Letters and Survivors
by Beckon
Summary: "So does the Ghost of the Commonwealth have a real name then?" Haylen asked. Ghost looked up and smiled at her- that tired, melting smile that seemed too old on such a young face. "And why would I give up something so personal? Is Haylen your real name?" [F!SS/Haylen]
1. Chapter 1

The first time Haylen met Ghost was at Cambridge- in the midst of screaming ghouls and gunfire.

Where the feral ghouls had come from in such a thick horde, she didn't know.

One minute, the street was empty, and the next, it was like Armageddon had opened its gates on them in the form of rotting fingernails and black teeth. In the form of sharp fingers clinging and digging into her arms, desperately trying to cut through the sleeves of her uniform. In the form of decayed, nauseating breath that sank rocks into her chest and lungs, and made her sputter out gags in an attempt to breathe.

They lost Knight Keane within seconds.

And if Danse hadn't been so quick with his gun, they would've lost Rhys too.

Haylen's heart was in her throat as she hoisted Rhys off the ground and dragged him back towards the police station- never minding his quick criticism for jumping into the line of fire to do so. For putting herself in danger for him. She had witnessed far too many people, too many soldiers, brothers and sister, die before she could get to them; she wasn't going to stand aside and add another name to the list.

Danse provided cover fire, and ordered for them to get inside.

The flimsy station doors wouldn't provide much under the strength of a feral horde, but it was better than being out here in the heart of it. At least inside they stood a better chance- _maybe_.

Rhys objected to running away from a fight, objected to leaving Danse behind, but Haylen dragged his ass inside with the promise that she would go back for the Paladin. Neither of them were any good to him right now- and he had things covered in the meantime. His power armor would protect him better than either of them could anyways.

Her priorities were bullet-pointed in her head.

One, get Rhys to safety.

Two, deal with everything as it came after.

Ghoul injuries had a nasty habit of bleeding fast, which ironically worked well to get any sort of infection flushed out before it could set in- and knowing feral ghouls, that was definitely a good thing. There was no telling what kind of diseases lingered underneath rotting fingernails.

But Haylen was running low on spare blood bags.

Rhys would bleed out before she even got the chance to go back for Danse if she didn't get his injuries closed now.

The ferals had already claimed one person on their team, she wouldn't let them claim another.

But her hands were quick, her eyes quicker to isolate which injuries needed attention first; she went through Stimpak and stitches without a word about what she was doing. Good bedside manners dictated conversation, dictated calm and attentive words. Haylen remembered the strain of her throat after two days worth of words with Knight Worwick while he laid bleeding next to her; half the time she didn't know what she was saying, but it seemed to bring the wounded man some comfort.

And after Worwick passed on, mercy by her own hand, she remembered giving herself a day or so to recover in silence- using her sore throat as an excuse not to speak with anyone. She was pretty certain that Danse knew it was more so out of betrayal, out of grief than anything else, but he kept his silence just the same- angry, and hurt just the same.

But Rhys hated good bedside manners, so at least she didn't have to go through that again.

In the midst of shaking hands as she hastily patched up Rhys' injuries, Haylen heard the growls and yowling outside die down under the sound of Danse's laser rifle. And when the silence did eventually settle outside, Haylen let herself take a few shaky breaths to calm herself- hoping to God that Danse would come back inside. Hoping to God that the silence wasn't because the ghouls had killed him and had suddenly lost interest now that they didn't have a visual on either her or Rhys.

But Danse did come back inside, which was the best new she could've been given.

... Haylen just didn't expect him to bring company back with him.

She had just been outside in that ghoul shitstorm, and there had been no one else around. So... where exactly did the extra soldier come from?

The woman who walked in with Danse certainly looked less than fitting- especially given the situation. She wore little more than a harness attire that Haylen had observed most of the Raiders, and Gunners in the area wear. The woman didn't fit the profile of one of those outcasts though; she seemed too calm to be one- too compassionate considering that she had helped them out quite greatly. Most Raider scums would've taken the opportunity to rush in and steal what they could through force- or would've waited until the ghouls had ripped them apart to scavenge what was left. They wouldn't have stuck around to help- even if a hefty reward was at stake.

Her skin was an uneven bronze, marred by patches of red sunburn, and peeling skin- and kissed by freckles around her shoulders and on her chest.

The woman's physique was hardened, no doubt by some form of strenuous training; the revealing harness showed off her firm stomach and tight abs. Her exposed stomach revealed the still present lightning bolt pattern of stretch marks though- and they seemed pretty recent too. So either she bounced back quite quickly, or... the unfortunate had happened. (Haylen told herself the details of it didn't matter right now).

Her shoulders were broad, and it was hard to ignore the smooth roundness of her biceps, even un-flexed and relaxed as they were. The slight press of bulging veins running down her arms made another note of her physical strength- and minor dehydration it would seem.

Long, black hair had been braided, and then rolled up into a bun that was pinned to the back of her head. It was a smart choice given how feral ghouls loved to grab at anything they could- loose clothing, and hair included. The pulled back style freed the woman's face though, and brought attention to her heavy jaw and broad nose, which had a visible curve to it from a previous break it would seem.

She was a good height too- maybe almost the same height as Danse outside of his power armor. A good foot over Haylen herself if they were standing face to face.

There was a hefty shotgun slung across her back, but her weapon of choice at the moment seemed to be the blood-stained machete in one hand.

"How's Rhys doing?" Danse questioned- urgency in his voice.

"He'll be fine," Haylen assured, as she snapped her focus back to Rhys, a little surprised at how focused she had been on the newcomer. Her stubborn partner was steadily losing consciousness, but the man was putting up one hell of a fight against it though- which didn't usually work out in his favor. She would've liked to have cracked a joke at his expense, but... maybe later, when he was awake enough to appreciate it. "Is the situation under control?"

"The perimeter is cleared," Danse replied, before he nodded towards the new arrival. "Thanks to her."

The woman swept the back of her hand across her brow, and gave a brief nod in return as she tried to catch her breath. "You had it under control," she spoke, slipping her machete back into the hook of her pants. "I was just there to help clean up the mess."

Modesty.

That was rare to find in the Commonwealth, or really anywhere these days.

"What's your name, soldier?" Haylen asked.

The woman looked to her for a moment, before she offered a tired looking smile. "You can call me _Ghost_."

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Ghost stuck around to help with a few things around the station- helping them to get back on their feet after the loss of Knight Keane. She went out with Danse to secure the part Haylen needed for the antenna, and managed to grab a few medical supplies for Rhys while she was out. It wasn't that Haylen was running out of supplies, or that Rhys was in medical danger, but... supplies had been getting low, and she didn't like how nervous the lightness of her pack made her.

It was nice to have someone around who seemed to know the area, and knew where to get decent enough supplies.

"Here," Haylen spoke, as she pulled out the bag of caps she had separated from her main stash earlier while the woman and Danse were out. She had spent the downtime doing an overview of the station, and figuring out what they could do with the place; it had potential- certainly better than some of the other places they had set up at. There were some back rooms with cots already set up, which was where she had Rhys lying down at the moment, resting. And while most of the surrounding area was broken up concrete and asphalt, there was a small hill of dirt just out back... which was where she had buried what was left of Knight Keane.

His holotags felt heavy in her pocket, and she knew she'd eventually have to hand them over to Danse, but... for now, she kept them with her. Using the weight of them to anchor herself on her feet, to keep her moving.

Haylen tossed the bag towards Ghost, who seemed to catch it out of reflex, but the jangling of the caps inside caused the woman to frown.

"It's fine, I don't need your money-"

Modesty was nice, but it was also a two sided gun here.

Ghost had just dropped off even more blood packs for her, which Haylen knew weren't easy to find in the Commonwealth- and Haylen was pretty good at scavenging around for the good shit herself. Blood packs were a commodity, and the caps in that bag weren't even enough to cover half of what Ghost had brought back. It made her feel like she was cheating the woman, which she was, but until they could regroup with the Brotherhood fleet, she had to keep her caps under a strict budget.

"Take it," Haylen insisted, as she made her way to the makeshift coffee stand she had set up. A little scavenging around the station had unearthed the coffee pot, a working hot plate, _God bless_ , and a few coffee cups ripe for the using. After spending so many days on the road, living off of cold cups, it was a godsend to smell the warm aroma of coffee brewing hot for once; she didn't even care if the coffee beans themselves had been contaminated or not. "The Brotherhood is grateful for your services- and we don't let good samaritans walk off empty-handed. Besides, if you're gonna stick around and keep helping out, I'd like for you to stay alive for as long as possible."

Her last remark was enough to garner a quiet chuckle from the woman.

As well as the successful jangle of Ghost slipping the bag of caps into her own pack for safe keeping.

"Gratitude is a nice downpayment," the woman replied. "And I guess I can't turn down the allowance for more shotgun shells."

"When the Prydwen arrives, Paladin Danse will put in a good word of your services to Elder Maxson," Haylen spoke, as she poured herself and Ghost a fresh cup of coffee. Setting the coffee pot back on the hot plate, she walked it over to the woman and handed one of the cups over. "The Elder will make sure that you're paid graciously for your assistance."

Ghost accepted the warm cup and nodded a thanks as she quickly took the first sip. "This isn't some kind of... indoctrinate thing, is it? Because I'm already involved with another group of people here, and I'm not looking to leave them anytime soon."

Haylen figured that Danse would push for her introduction into the Brotherhood ranks- a woman like Ghost would be a good addition. She was smart, capable, and good on her feet, but somehow Haylen didn't see Ghost as being so easily influenced; even if it was by the prospect of the all-powerful Brotherhood. "Don't worry, we can't force you to be a part of something you don't want to be," she assured. "You might be made an offer, but the decision is ultimately up to you."

"Think I should take it if an offer _is_ made?"

Haylen felt her stomach curl slightly at the question, and tried not to let her own waning faith in the faction poison her words. "The Brotherhood could always use good people like you."

"But what are your thoughts on it?" Ghost pressed.

She took a sip of her coffee to try and elongate her time to answer here- trying to burn up as much time as she could, even if it was just by a few seconds. Eyes briefly glanced around at the empty station lobby, but she knew that they were safe from being eavesdropped on. Rhys was resting in the back, and knocked out like a Brahmin on Med-X; Haylen had forgotten how badly he took to the pain killer, and realized now she probably should've administered a half dosage instead.

Danse was taking his usual cat nap in the back as well since he never fully slept most days. The Paladin would take ten minutes here, or twenty minutes there from time to time, just to make sure he was on alert for a majority of the day. And no amount of switching, or taking over shifts could convince him to sleep for a solid night at least. Haylen feared his PTSD was getting worse, but unless he willingly accepted help for it, there was little else she could do but monitor him as much as she could.

"Your silence on this is pretty damning."

"The Brotherhood is a good place to be, but our responses and duties are different per region," Haylen explained, or at least tried to. "Our recon came from the Wasteland, from D.C., where we battled the Enclave and secured peace and clean water for the region. Our brothers on the West coast haven't been so lucky- they've basically disappeared off the map for us. There's no telling what happened to them, but a run in with the NCR might've had something to do with it. And as far as we can tell, there are no heavy resistance factions here- no Enclave, no NCR, nothing, so for once, we'll be operating on our own accord."

She had decided to omit the part of the strange signal that had drawn them here in the first place- of the Brotherhood's interest in the Institute. The people of the Commonwealth refused to talk openly about the Institute, so information was a little hard to come by. But from what few horror stories she had gathered, it seemed like the Institute was a force to be reckoned with.

Ghost was nice to have around, but until she was officially in the ranks of the Brotherhood, should she choose to be, any information in regards to the Institute were to be kept quiet. Elder Maxson's orders.

Ghost's eyebrows arched slightly at the response, but the woman didn't immediately reply. Instead she sipped at her coffee a few more times, as though trying to buy herself some time as well. "Sounds kind of fishy if you ask me," she noted, quietly, as though realizing what she might say next could be offensive towards Haylen. "I'm former military. I know the good and bad that comes from having absolute control over a region. Sometimes things work out, but... in the wrong hands, a lot of things could go wrong. For everyone involved."

Haylen often wondered if that was what had happened to the Brotherhood in the NCR region. Did they try to break a dictatorship over the region and get themselves wiped out despite trying to be the greater good? Or was it the other way around? Were they suffocating the New Vegas region, and the NCR was the knight in shining armor there to protect the civilians?

Without any clean piece of information available, it would be impossible to know.

And Haylen didn't care to linger on it for much longer.

"You were military?" she asked instead, not at all surprised by the admittance. It certainly explained a lot about Ghost after all- namely her physique and her method of doing things. "What faction did you serve in?"

Ghost seemed to hesitate under the question, and fumbled slightly with her cup. "I... it's not important- they're not around anymore for anyone to really remember."

* * *

 _"It's another beautiful day in the Commonwealth- for those of you out there who can still appreciate the beauty in it."_

Haylen skimmed through her reports in the station lobby as the radio played in the background. She liked to have some background noise while she worked, and while she wasn't a big fan of the radio host, he seemed to be the only one on air in the area. So she really didn't have much of a choice but to listen to him, or suffer through the silence; at the very least, he didn't talk much between songs.

The host's try-hard attitude made her miss the rustic honesty of Three-Dog back in the Wastes.

 _"Did everyone see that giant airship a few days ago? Hear that great, impending message? I'm not entirely sure I know who the Brotherhood are, but one thing is certain folks: they sure do know how to make an entrance."_

She couldn't help but to roll her eyes at the exaggerated message, but she also had to admit that the arrival of the Prydwen could've been handled... better. Maybe with something less flashy, and more discreet. Sure, they wanted the people to know that they were in the area, and that they were ready to help, but using the sound system to broadcast as they rolled across the Commonwealth? Haylen was pretty certain it would make it harder for people to take them seriously now.

She still couldn't believe that Elder Maxson had passed off of on that concept.

 _"Hey, maybe our friendly, neighborhood Ghost could go check them out for us- you know, as a favor."_

Haylen perked up at the name, and stopped the work on her reports to focus on what might come from the host next. For once, she actually wanted the man to speak- and she actually wanted to listen.

 _"You think the Brotherhood existed two hundred years ago? If only there was a way we could get Ghost to call in and let us know. Hey, Ghost! If you're listening in, drop by the Diamond City radio shack for an interview- we got some questions."_

She frowned now- finding the man's comment off-putting.

What the hell did Ghost have to do with any of that?

"Why are you listening to that crap?"

Haylen snapped away from the radio and watched as Rhys walked in from his usual run of the perimeters. With the Prydwen's recent arrival, the station was a proper host to a full Brotherhood unit now- including two other Paladins on scene. The extra fire power had allowed them to clear the area out of ghouls, and chase off the local Raiders, and Gunners. Just as well, they were able to fortify the police station, and had it running as a proper holding point for the Brotherhood now.

"Hey, it's better than listening to you half the time," Haylen teased, catching the unamused sneer he shot her- but knowing that it meant well. If there was anyone who disliked the radio host more than her, it was Rhys. "You got any idea what he's talking about with Ghost?"

"Yeah, Danse said something about her being pre-war, something about being frozen in some kind of vault experiment gone wrong," Rhys answered. "She was the only survivor out of the whole thing, and she's been running around the Commonwealth looking for her kid or something."

Pre-war?

Like ' _pre-war_ ' pre-war?

... As in, two hundred years ago, pre-war?

* * *

Haylen heard the news spread like wildfire through the ranks.

 _Knight Ghost._

It was an eloquent position to be given to someone out of the blue, especially to someone with no previous Brotherhood experience. But apparently Elder Maxson had been impressed with Ghost's story, and her pre-war background. A good word from Paladin Danse certainly had to have helped seal her position in the Brotherhood ranks as well; although not to say that Ghost couldn't have made it into the Brotherhood on her own had she had taken the traditional path.

Haylen admitted she might've done some snooping around, gathering up a few rumors she had heard about the woman.

A pre-war, decorated veteran with a sealed background; a seemingly deadly combination, but Ghost was proving that it wasn't sealed through illegal means.

The Brotherhoods take over of any and all military outpost had them stripping information from every terminal, providing intel from the pre-war days. Not a lot of intel, but the name 'Ghost' appeared a few times over. It seemed to be too much of coincidence, but there was a possibility that there had been a different Ghost during that time period- and that maybe this Ghost wasn't the same as the person in the terminal files.

Too many similarities though, and without a proper name for the woman, it would be difficult to make a true identification.

Didn't matter, it was all in the past now.

Two hundred year old information hardly seemed worth their time.

Haylen had to admit that she was surprised that Ghost had accepted the position. With how the woman spoke of militarized factions from time to time, she didn't seem thrilled about joining another one. But maybe she saw potential in the Brotherhood to help with her missing child- another rumor Haylen had heard through the grapevine. She wouldn't tell Ghost that she knew though; the woman hadn't said anything about it herself, so there was a possible reason for her secrecy. She would let the woman come to terms on her own accord- if she wanted to.

Haylen also had to admit that she liked the prospect of Ghost being around more often. She found the woman to be intriguing in her own right- even without her two hundred year frozen past. Although, she recognized that that did have a lot of reason as to why Ghost was the way she was.

Not to mention, with the station running a high order now, it was nice to have someone she could be relaxed and open around. It was nice to just have another woman around in all honesty. Haylen loved her Brotherhood brothers like they were blood, but sometimes their testosterone was just too much to handle some days. And since Proctor Ingram and Scribe Neriah were permanently stationed on the Prydwn for the time being, she hardly had a chance to mingle with them instead.

But Ghost helped to fill that void, even if by a small degree.

The woman would make a good asset to the Brotherhood though.

They were sure to get more things done in the Commonwealth with Ghost at their side.

Killing Raiders, Gunners, and Super Mutants was beneficial to everyone, but... that seemed to be where the Brotherhood agenda stopped. The higher-ups, mostly Elder Maxson, were too obsessed with tracking down this 'Institute' to bother with much else. Sure, his zealous need to wipe out anything that went against the laws of nature lead to the extermination of ghouls and such, but that was about it.

It was... disappointing.

But maybe this was a sign of things to come- maybe things were finally turning around.

After all, it was of no secret that Ghost had already aligned herself with the Minutemen, who were, from observation reports, actively on the ground and helping the people of the Commonwealth. They took care of some of the issues with the Super Mutants, Raiders, and such, although the Brotherhood handled a bulk of it, but they were also providing more. They were setting up settlements, safe places for people to live, never minding if someone was human or ghoul.

From the outside looking in, it appeared noble.

... Haylen couldn't say the same about the Brotherhood.

* * *

"So why do you call yourself 'Ghost'?" Haylen questioned one evening.

It was late and Ghost had arrived a few hours later than she normally did, making it near pitch-black outside by the time her business here was through. The woman didn't seem set on spending the night at the station, but it was either that or risk the feral ghouls that had moved back into the subway tunnels nearby. The newest Brotherhood unit on duty had become less than focused on the surrounding areas, mostly in regards to anything that couldn't hold a gun, so the feral horde was slowly reclaiming its numbers. Haylen figured it wouldn't be too long before someone went back through and exterminated them though. In the meantime, they only caused problems at night, and the night watch kept them at bay, so it wasn't too bad.

She certainly didn't mind the extended company though.

It wasn't surprising to have Ghost drop by the police station every few days or so to check in. She was always on the road for some reason or another, but always had time to stop in and see if they were in need of anything. And since Haylen always had a few knick-knacks worth picking up, she gladly gave the woman a list with every visit- knowing well that Ghost would come back with a successful haul.

The woman always seemed to bring a few extra things back with her as well. Either an extra piece of technology that she just _happened_ to find, or an extra Nuka Cola, or an extra box of Sugar Bombs that might've just been lying around somewhere.

Sweet things tended to give her a fizzy stomach, but Haylen accepted them in small dosages.

A minor stomachache was worth pushing through if it meant spending time and chewing through handfuls of radiated, over-sugared cereal with Ghost.

The one downfall to the Brotherhood finally planting their feet on the ground was that there were shifts constantly moving in and around the police station. Which meant, more often than not, Haylen was the only person stuck on post for a few hours- which mean she couldn't physically leave the area. Which meant she no longer had the freedom to set out on her own to investigate some salvaged technology her scanners might've picked up on.

She never signed on for a desk job, but that's exactly how this was feeling most days.

A waste of her talents.

At the very least, her question seemed to amuse Ghost, who was sitting across the table from her.

"It's an old war name of mine- before the nukes," she answered. "I was an infiltrator for the military- sometimes a part-time sniper when they needed me to be. So more often than not, I was present on the battlefield, but completely out of sight. I was good at what I did, getting in and out without being seen or caught. So much so that people started referring to me as a 'ghost' on the battlefield. I liked the aesthetic of it, so the name stuck and I played it well."

Haylen nodded and sipped at her lukewarm coffee as she waited for the next pot to finish brewing. Coffee was a staple, there was no doubt about that. And ever since she managed to dig up an old shipment of still sealed-in-the-can coffee beans at one of the local Super Duper Marts, she had been splurging a little with how many cups a day she was drinking.

Might not have been the healthiest thing, but it kept her sane most days.

If Ghost was an infiltrator for the former government though, Haylen wondered if that was why her file had been sealed in the first place. Maybe she ran some OPs that the government didn't want the rest of the world to know- Lord knows that Elder Maxson had a few of the same cases up his sleeve.

She supposed it didn't matter though. It was all two hundred years in the past, and there was little use for the information now.

"Oh."

Her lackluster answer seemed to draw a curious look from Ghost.

"Disappointed?" she questioned.

"I guess I was just expecting something more to it," Haylen replied. "I mean, you're traveling the Commonwealth under the guises of 'Ghost'- even Elder Maxson refers to you as it. I made the assumption that there was more of a story behind it."

Ghost gave a short laugh. "It was like pulling teeth to get Elder Maxson to crown me as Knight Ghost, but I was just as unrelenting as he was. And Ghost always comes out on top." She picked up her unfinished cup of coffee and took a deep drink from it, before she set it back down again. "There is... sort of more to it, I just didn't want to bore you with the details- but it is a fun listen if you're interested."

"I'm interested."

The woman cracked a brief grin at her quick response, and Haylen came to realize that maybe she had spoken a bit _too_ quickly.

"I was hoping you would be," Ghost spoke, a slight tease in her voice, as her fingertips rotated the coffee cup in her hands. "Alright, so like I said, I was good at what I did- I was good at getting in and out of things and places that I didn't need to be in. It only took a few months before everyone was referring to me as Ghost, even my higher-ups. So, one day, the government calls me up and says that they need me to infiltrate an overseas enemy post for information in regards to potential nuclear warheads being stored there. Didn't sound like my kind of thing, but when the government calls, you answer. So they send my sorry ass over seas where I spend the next four months hunkered down in an underground bunker the suits in office gave me. My place of establishment and the base they wanted me to spy on were only separated by a few miles at most, so I was in a high-alert area under constant guard. The nighttime became my friend since it was the only time I could move around without being spotted; I spent most of the day sleeping and planning away in my bunker. Since I was on my own, and needed to stay undetected, it was rare for me to get a supply drop in that region- I got one maybe once every month and a half. So I had to heavily ration everything that I had, when I had it. Needless to say, my diet tanked pretty hard, pretty quick."

Haylen chuckled lightly at the words- recalling a few memories of her own that revolved around a similar scenario. Her scavenging days were very much the same in terms of rationing, as was being with Recon Squad Gladius when they separated from the main Brotherhood fleet in the beginning. Sometimes they preferred to travel at night and use the day time to sleep and avoid bringing attention to themselves.

The trademark power armor had a tendency of drawing unwanted types of people to them- namely Gunners.

"During my time there, I became anemic because of my shit diet, and I was constantly battling low blood pressure," Ghost continued. "So, that, on top of a heavy lack of vitamin D, left me looking pretty sad. I dropped one too many pounds, and found myself constantly restless and exhausted all the time. When I finally got home four months later, I was so sickly and pale that it was a miracle I didn't pass out during my debriefing."

Haylen wondered if that was the reason for the woman's unusual open attire.

Ghost exposed skin more often than she probably should've, but Haylen theorized that maybe it was because of those months spent stuck in the dark- closed and sealed away from the sun. From the heat. And if such was the case, she wondered if the recovery, even up to now, two hundred years later, was worth the constant battle against sunburn.

"Eli was so upset when I got home. He practically cried when I stepped off the plane, and then immediately dragged my sorry ass to the nearest infirmary. I was in the ICU for a good week, and even after I was released, he wouldn't let me leave his sight until I was completely well again. Always made sure that I got plenty of sun, and plenty to eat though," Ghost spoke, smiling through the words that must've stirred up the memories. "Anyways, anyone who saw me during that time kept commenting that I had taken the name ' _Ghost_ ' too far."

Sadly enough, Haylen could definitely picture how the woman must've looked.

She had seen and treated a few Brotherhood soldiers who had suffered through the same sort of health issues. She could see how the tag of 'Ghost' would've been more than appropriate for the woman after such an ordeal.

"And because of that particular mission, my files and position in the military were sealed by the government," Ghost finished. "After that, I took my leave of absence, and... well, here I am."

At least there was one confirmed answer from the woman- but now another one was slightly gnawing at Haylen.

"Who was Eli?"

Ghost seemed to hesitate slightly at the repeated name, fingers stopping the coffee cup in hand in mid-rotation. "Elijah," she seemed to correct, light on the tongue. "He was my husband before shit hit the fan, and before the nukes were dropped on us." She paused for a few seconds, and then continued. "And before the Institute put a bullet in his head."

Haylen stilled at the words.

Another rumor through the grapevine was that Ghost was after the Institute in regards to her missing son, but Haylen had dismissed it. They did and didn't have proof that the Institute was even in this area. Rumors and evidence, sure, but absolutely no sightings of them.

But Ghost must've knew- she must've seen them.

Maybe that was why Elder Maxson had been so eager to bring her onboard.

"... I'm sorry to hear about that."

"I'm getting by," Ghost assured, resuming her habit of rotating her cup. "Eli wouldn't want me to mope around though- that's not who I am."

The slight whistle from the coffee pot signaled that it was finally done, giving Haylen the opportunity to give Ghost some space as she went to retrieve it. Giving herself some time to let all of this new information settle. Picking up the coffee pot, Haylen returned to the small table they were both seated at, and topped off both of their cups before she set the pot aside.

"So does the Ghost of the Commonwealth have a real name then?" Haylen asked, figuring a change in conversation would be good for the both of them.

Ghost looked up and smiled at her- that tired, melting smile that seemed too old on such a young face. "And why would I give up something so personal? Is Haylen your real name?"

There was almost a sort of teasing mock in the woman's voice- one that had Haylen slightly snorting in the back of her throat.

"I have nothing to hide," she replied. "And the only people who might cringe at my name are far, far from here."

"So you left an impression in the Wasteland I presume then?"

Haylen eyed the woman carefully, taking note of her almost eager grin now. "Classified," she spoke, hearing Ghost laugh at her snarky response. "I'm just curious, that's all- and saying Knight Ghost all time is... beginning to sound weird out loud."

Again, Ghost seemed to find amusement in it. "It's easy to hide behind a moniker," she started. "When I'm Ghost, I'm someone different. I'm a soldier at war with this unforgiving place, just as I was before. But here, I'm Ghost, burnt red and bronze by the sun, rather than starved white under the moon."

It was almost poetic- _almost_.

Perhaps more dramatic than anything though.

"What's there to hide then?" Haylen pressed. "What are you afraid of?"

"I don't know," the woman replied, sipping at her fresh coffee now; there was a hint of sincerity in her voice- a genuine sense of not knowing. "I suppose if, or rather _when_ , the Institute comes looking for me next, they'll have to admit that they're searching for a ghost."

Haylen supposed she shouldn't have gone into the conversation expecting much of an answer, but she didn't foresee it being this difficult. Then again, being brand new in an old world would be terrifying- and being able to hide behind a name, a mask, could potentially provide some needed comfort. Some sense of security even. Especially since everyone in the Commonwealth seemed to know her business.

"I suppose they will be," Haylen agreed.

"Well, is Haylen your first, or you last name?" Ghost questioned- an odd one at that.

Haylen couldn't say if anyone had ever really questioned her over such a thing. "First," she answered. "I don't have a last name."

"Does that pertain to what you left behind in the Wastelands?"

"Maybe."

Ghost smiled once more, seemingly finding adequate entertainment in their back and forth banter- which was a firm staple in their partnership. She took another sip of her coffee before she pushed herself away from the table.

"I have a last name, Haylen," she announced, "and it's Snow. I have a first name as well... and it's Luka."

The confession caught Haylen by surprise, and she waited a few seconds to let it settle in. Here she had been bantering with the woman about her codename, and her real name- and as much as Haylen wanted to know, she was okay with never knowing just the same. And yet, Ghost had spilled it out for her anyways- perhaps as a reward for being so persistent, but not overbearing.

Still, it felt like she had just learned something personal, something intimate about the woman across from her. Suddenly now she knew who Ghost was- not the moniker, not the Knight, or the stories and rumors of the Commonwealth. But rather the person in front of her, the one with the consistently tired-looking smiles, and dull green eyes.

"Luka Snow," Haylen repeated, letting the name roll off of her tongue like freshly made coffee.

And Ghost smiled at her, as though this was the first time she had heard her own name coming from someone else's lips in a long, long time.

Haylen hoped that it sounded as beautiful as she thought it did.

"I have a middle name too, but you'll have to fight me tooth and nail for it."


	2. Chapter 2

The station was quiet.

And once more, Haylen was the only one on post- which meant she couldn't quench her boredom with a quick trip around the surrounding city; or maybe even further out if she was feeling risky. She hated days like these, the ones that left her to sort through her reports in a mind-numbing fashion. She didn't even have the radio on- found out that it only annoyed her when she was here alone. Only reminded her of how low she apparently sat in the food chain around here.

The Brotherhood was all about collecting technology, and yet all of that had gone on standby for the time being. The Commonwealth was loaded with undiscovered pieces of treasure, and all Elder Maxson wanted to do was dig around in the dirt for the Institute. The only pieces of technology he cared for were the ones that would get Liberty Prime up and running again; technology that would have Liberty Prime making its footprint in the Commonwealth as it did in the Capital Wasteland.

Sighing, Haylen rubbed at her temples and tried to reprimand herself for such thinking. It wasn't like the Elder was doing anything wrong, per say, and it wasn't like he hadn't done a great deal for the Brotherhood to begin with. But sometimes... no, it wasn't worth getting into, not even with herself. If she sat around and catalogued everything she thought the Elder was wrong about, she would drive herself crazy.

She tried to refocus herself and set her mind back on the the report in front of her- re-reading it for what felt like the third time now. At this point it was just looking like jumbled up words, and nonsense to her. It didn't pertain to anything she dealt with, so she didn't see why she was having to turn it in.

One hand reached for her near-empty coffee cup nearby, and grabbed it- only to almost drop it in surprise when the station radio began to crackle with life.

It had been deathly quiet all morning, and with no current unit posted around Cambridge, she didn't see why there would be a call coming in. Maybe someone didn't get the memo. Or maybe she was finally going to get called into something herself.

Haylen was barely to her feet and walking towards the radio nearby when the signal finally caught and a voice called out.

"Cambridge, this is Knight Ghost, do you copy?"

Haylen wouldn't admit that she almost ran to the radio at the voice.

While part of her was glad to finally get some kind of outside contact, especially from Ghost of all people, she could hear the strain in the woman's voice from the other line. Fingers couldn't pick up the radio fast enough. "This is Haylen, Knight Ghost, what's going on?" She was almost certain she stumbled through the words in a hurry to get them out- in a hurry to hear a response in return.

"Oh thank God." There was an obvious break of relief in the woman's voice now. "Haylen, listen, I got myself into a pretty bad spot here, and I could really use some back-up."

Shit.

Haylen felt her stomach twist slightly at the realization that, of all things possible, that was the _one_ thing she couldn't provide right now.

"Danse and Rhys stepped out about an hour ago- as did all of our patrol units," Haylen started- hating that Elder Maxson had decided to shift forces now of all times. "I'm the only one on post right now. I can't leave Cambridge, or else we risk losing it."

Haylen wasn't certain if Ghost meant for her to hear the faint slur of curses that escaped her; the radio obviously hadn't been pulled back enough to hide them. When the woman came back, the heaviness in her breathing and voice was evident now even with the crackling of the signal between them.

"Haylen, I'm at the old Med-Tekk building, and it's swamped with Super Mutants right now. One of them got a lucky hit and slung me over a railing; I fucked up my leg on a piece of rebar half a story down," Ghost spoke. "I barely managed to get away before they found me, but I'm losing a lot of blood right now. I can slow it down for the time being, but I'm gonna be in trouble if I don't get some serious help out here. And I can't trust myself to move on this thing."

Her heart practically moved into her throat at the words, before Haylen scrambled into the next room where Rhys had pinned together a map of most of the Commonwealth area. It was a jerry-rigged sort of deal, but it got the job done; it painted an image of the region they were dealing with- although with plenty of unexplored portions. Luckily, a few of their units had been to Med-Tekk a few times over already _because_ of the Super Mutant issue- that much she knew from their reports. The damn things wouldn't leave the place alone, so it was a constant name on the list of places for them to exterminate. It was probably why Ghost was there in the first place; one of the higher ups must've thought she could handle the place on her own. And knowing Ghost, she probably could, but accidents happen, and it was surprising how quick an injury could down a person.

Lucky for Haylen, someone had already circled the building on the map so she didn't have to struggle to look for it.

Med-Tekk was a lot further away than she thought though...

"Do you think you can hang on for at least another hour?" Haylen questioned, figuring she might see a shortcut or two along the way.

"I think so, but it'll be pushing it," Ghost answered. "Is there an unit in the area?"

"No, everyone's been pulled in closer to the Prydwen for the time being." All because of that goddamn signal, and the work on Liberty Prime. "I'll have to come for you."

"You just said you were the only person on post-"

"I am," Haylen nodded, memorizing what she could of the map before she pushed herself away from it. She was damn well about to break a golden rule in the Brotherhood handbook here, but... she had to. There was no way she was going to leave Ghost out there to die. Hands hastily began grabbing her supplies and putting them together- shoving what she could into her vest. "But other than me, there's no one else who could get to you. Not within two hours anyways."

"It's dangerous."

There was an obvious hint of worry in the woman's voice- just enough so that it caused Haylen to pause for a few seconds.

"I started off in the Wasteland, and traveled with Recon Squad Gladius to the Commonwealth. No one carried me, no one babied me, and sure as Hell, no one held my hand on the way here," Haylen spoke. "I have fought and killed Super Mutants longer than you've been defrosted, Luka; I know what I'm doing."

A quiet laugh over the radio caught her attention this time.

"I'm on the second floor of the Med-Tekk building- you'll know how to find me."

"Got it."

Haylen felt that pit in her stomach get bigger as she dropped the radio, holstered her gun and headed out the door- locking the place up as best she could. She had never done anything outside of the ordered rules of the Brotherhood; it made her nervous, made her feel physically sick almost. But she didn't sign up to have a desk job- she wasn't going to be someone's secretary.

She was fucking Scribe, for God's sake.

Giving the station one last look, she headed out onto the streets and made her way towards Med-Tekk.

* * *

It took her longer than she would've liked to get to the Med-Tekk building, but at least the long run brought back memories of good travels.

Haylen was built for this kind of thing- for being outdoors, and being under certain restrains; it was where she excelled the most. It was why she had joined the Brotherhood in the first place. This was what she should be doing at all times, not just fiddling about trying to keep herself busy around the police station like she was some kind of housewife to the rest of the unit.

For what it was worth, it seemed like the Super Mutants had left the area- no doubt continuing on with their usual migrations. They must've took what they wanted from the building, packed up camp, and left the rest behind. Still, Haylen kept her head low and her feet quiet as she made her way inside of the building and climbed the staircase to the second floor- trying to keep out of sight of any potential stragglers.

She tried to keep the memory of Knight-Sergeant Dawes out of her mind- tried to ignore the memories of what that Super Mutant sledgehammer had done to him. Tried to forget how Danse had tried to shield her from it, but knowing well that she was the one who had to record the death; that she was the one who had to collect his holotags.

And they had felt like a brick in her pocket the entire way to Cambridge.

The occasional bodies she stumbled across from time to time proved that Ghost had been in the area recently- and that she could put a nasty hole in a Super Mutant with the right gun. Haylen recalled how excited the woman had been when she was finally able to swap her shotgun for a nice, suited up sniper rifle instead. Ghost said she had found it in an old military bunker, and was quick to raid it before any of the Brotherhood units could get to it.

It was a suitable choice of weaponry for someone like Ghost- nice and quiet.

Making her way through the gore-sludged building, Haylen hastily scoured the second floor for any signs of the woman. The Med-Tekk building was half collapsed on itself, so it was a little difficult to navigate, and all the more easier to miss out on clues.

But she found her first sign with a blood-covered piece of exposed rebar that was sticking out through a pile of debris. A collection of molded and collapsed floor panelling, and old rotting furniture had the pile nearly halfway to the floor above; the rebar itself must've been from a collapsed pillar, or maybe support beam. Either way, it was a stroke a bad luck and bad placement.

The exposed portion of the rebar was short- thankfully.

Which meant if Ghost had fallen and impaled her leg on it, then at least she would've been able to pull herself off of it with ease. But there was no telling what the thing was coated in- what kind of infection might be pulled from it. Not to mention the woman would've had to have rolled down the debris pile just to get to the floor.

And considering that there were some disturbed bloody drag marks on the floor next to the pile, Ghost must've done just that. The woman had dragged herself across the floor, her leg no longer useable at the moment, just to get away from the hunting Super Mutants. And judging by the smeared footprints that had stepped through the blood, and continued on down the corridor, the Super Mutants had been nastily close to getting her.

Hell, Haylen was a little scared that the mutants had gotten the woman in the time it took for her to get here.

Fortunately, the Super Mutants seemed to have missed how the drag marks curved into a nearby supply closet just a few feet from the accident. Their context clues skills weren't exactly up to par.

Haylen held her breath and kept her gun drawn as she approach the closet- praying that she had made it in time. One hand reached for the doorknob and hesitated, before she lightly rapped her knuckles against the door instead. "Ghost?"

It took a moment before she heard a soft grunt from inside, before the doorknob jiggled briefly and the door was pulled open.

Haylen stepped in to where Ghost was seated in an old chair next to the door- her rifle propped up next to her, well within reach for combat. Which would've been hard to do seeing as both of her hands were pressed and curled against her right thigh; her fingers thoroughly coated in her own blood. Off the bat, it didn't seem like it was still bleeding all too heavily, but there was a thick mess of blood where it had pooled into the chair underneath her and then spilled to the floor below.

"Fucking Christ," Haylen whispered, holstering her gun, before she knelt next to the woman. "I'm going to look at the wound, alright?" A simple question of consent, which had Ghost moving her hands away on her own accord- allowing her to see what she could of the injury. "Can you feel the leg at all?"

"Barely," Ghost replied, wiping her hands off on her former white shirt; the woman was actually wearing one for once. "It's really numb- kind of having a hard time feeling my foot right now, but I can still move my toes a little."

Alright, both a good and bad start.

The woman was still conscious and talking though, so that was a good place to be regardless.

"Artery doesn't appear to have any significant damage to it- otherwise you'd be dead right now," Haylen assured, slipping into that calm, collective, medic voice she had perfected over the years. "Do you know if the bone was broken?"

"If not broken, then definitely fractured," Ghost nodded, before elaborating, "I heard a crack when I hit."

Back to being bad again.

"Did you already take a Stimpak?" Haylen pressed, watching as the woman nodded once more in answer. Ghost had moved her hands to the back of her neck for the time being, probably just to get them out of the way, or to keep them from shaking. "Alright, well... potentially a broken femur, a lot of potential muscle tearing and damage; arterial damage is still possible, but not major for the time being."

Haylen was reading out her own mental list as she carefully ripped the bloodied portion of Ghost's jeans open, trying to get a better look at the injury without disturbing it. There was a lot of blood still, but she could see the clear puncture of where the rebar had popped out through the front of her thigh. Wasn't much more than a two-inch wound, but a through-and-through was dangerous nonetheless.

"Alright, I'll have to patch you up here before I can risk moving you. You've got a damaged femur, so that leg can't take any pressure on it right now. The Stimpak should accelerate the healing, but you're gonna need more than just that before you're good to go."

"Well at least I'm already in a hospital," Ghost loosely teased. "So how we gonna do this, doc?"

Right.

How _was_ she going to do this?

"First things first, let's get you on the ground," Haylen spoke, "it'll be easier for me to work on you. Right now, all I can do is patch up the injury and keep you from losing any more blood. I can do some temporary stitching for the time being, and when we get you back on the Prydwen, we'll get you properly fixed up, alright?"

Ghost nodded, before she gave her a brief thumbs up. "Sounds good."

God, she hoped so.

Haylen offered a shoulder and an arm and hoisted Ghost slightly onto her good leg- trying to ignore the pained groan that escaped the woman, or the heavy weight of Ghost slumping against her. It was a little harder to get the woman onto the floor in the same manner, but Haylen had plenty of experience in doing so. Although normally it was with Brotherhood soldiers who usually didn't mind her throwing them on the ground.

(In fact, she was almost certain some of them enjoyed it).

Ghost gave out a heavy groan as she finally settled flat on the thin floor space of the closet, her hands pressed to her forehead. "... I wonder if this is how Eli felt."

The words were somewhat mumbled under her breath, but Haylen still heard them.

Pulling out her kit, she shuffled through her things- trying to find the supplies she needed for this. Luckily she still had a bottle of sterilized water with her, which she set aside, before she tried to find her makeshift stitching kit. "What happened with Elijah?" she asked, knowing it was good to keep the woman talking, to keep her mind focused on other things. Ghost had already lost enough blood as it was, which wasn't good, but her being coherent was a good sign.

Haylen wondered if this place still had any blood bags left over. She had traded most of hers over to another Scribe during a unit swap, and had been promised to have them returned in full in a few days. Unfortunately, that deadline had yet to be reached, so she only a few on her- not nearly enough to sustain a decent transfusion.

"Took a sniper shot to the leg," Ghost answered. "Had to have it amputated below the knee."

Haylen grimaced at the answer as she twisted the top off of the bottled water and carefully poured it around the injury- trying to flush the blood away from the wound without directly touching it. It only caused the woman to jerk slightly underneath her, before Ghost dragged her hands down to cover her face. Sometimes in order to fix someone, she had to cause a little pain; it was a part of the job Haylen never really liked, but it had to be done.

"That's tough," she spoke, as she pulled a loose rag from her kit and laid it over the injury- trying to soak up any excess water and blood. She went back to her bag, and searched for her stitching kit again, only to find something a little more suitable to her cause. It was a small tube of medical sealer, which she carried around for emergencies. It wasn't the best of things to use; it was kind of like putting super glue on a wound to keep it temporarily closed, but just... a little more refined. A doctor in the Capital Wasteland had created and sold it- mostly tailoring toward the Brotherhood. It wasn't a bad technique to use though- especially in a pinch.

Stitches would be better, but Ghost would definitely need surgery on the leg, and stitches would only become a nuisance to the doctors on board. Either Knight-Captain Cade, or Neriah would have to cut through them in order to get to the wound, only to have to stitch it back in place when they were done. It opened the doors to potential skin fraying, which wasn't a good thing to risk.

The sealer should keep the wound together by the time Ghost made it to the Prydwen... Hopefully.

At the very least, it would stop the bleeding for now.

Making her made up for the time being, Haylen twisted the small tube open and used a small metal file to scoop out a sizable amount.

"I've had to make a few calls like that before- it's never easy for either party," Haylen finished, as she removed the rag and gently placed the metal file flat against the woman's leg.

"That's how I met him, you know," Ghost continued, winching as Haylen smeared the off-colored ointment against the open wound. "I was in the recovery stages from a strand of Malaria that I had caught from South America; it was some kind of super strand that chewed right through my vaccinations. I spent three weeks in the ICU, alternating being stuck in a freezer, or being stuck in Hell itself- all while throwing up and hallucinating. I was so glad to be almost out of there, you know? Three weeks of pure isolation, asides from the hallucinations of giant mosquitoes, and I wanted to be out. And then the staff tells me I got a roommate the moment I'm out of quarantine, and they roll him in- fresh out of surgery."

Haylen nodded to let the woman know that she was listening, before she used one hand to lightly squeeze the injury- feeling the slight kick of the woman's leg underneath her. "Sorry," she apologized, holding the skin in a slight pinch in order to let the ointment settle. The sealer would form a small layer over the wound, a sort of makeshift scab in a sense, but it would take a minute or so to do so.

"As gross as it was, we would swap between puking. I thought I was finally over it since I wasn't sick any more, but I'm a sympathetic puker, so once he started, I started," Ghost spoke; voice slight strained for Haylen's constant prodding. "I felt bad for him, you know? He was a field medic just... trying to keep his unit alive, and then some asshole with a rifle guns him down. Made me almost regret being a sniper myself. We talked when we could; we kept each other awake by snoring sometimes. I got him through the tough nights by telling him really bad jokes- bad enough that at one point he practically begged me to be quiet."

Haylen waited until the skin seemed firm enough, before she washed off the rest of the blood- revealing the paste-white wound on her leg. It would do for now, she kept telling herself that.

"I need you to flip over, alright?" she requested, watching as Ghost nodded, before the woman pushed herself up onto her forearms. Between the two of them, they managed to get her over onto her belly. The back of her leg, where the actual entry point itself was, was horrendous. The skin was torn and frayed around the edges, and already turning bruised from the heavy impact from the puncture. There were bits and pieces of dust and debris caught in the blood- pieces of her jeans lodged in the injury as well.

"We flirted too- well, I did; I think he was too doped up on morphine to know what I was talking about half the time," Ghost carried on, slightly propped up on her forearms now. "And then I was released, and I told myself to remember his name. I caught him when he was going through physical therapy about two months later- I had strained my back at that time, so I needed to be there too. And well, we hit it off from there. Shacked up within the year, and then he knocked me up during combat leave."

Haylen couldn't help but to give a brief chuckle at the last words as she carefully cleaned the wound out. "Sorry," she whispered again as the woman winced at the water she poured around the injury. "Well, I can guarantee that you're not going to lose the leg," Haylen assured, as she considered doing more of a clean of the injury, but decided against it; now was not the place for it, and she was more concerned about the bleeding.

Ghost would be okay until she got to the Prydwen.

She scooped more ointment onto the file and carefully applied it to the injury.

"Damn, I was hoping to fill in the other boot this time around," Ghost remarked.

"Looking for someone else to shack up with?" Haylen spoke- unable to catch herself before the words came out.

Ghost only laughed at them though. "I mean... wouldn't be too bad of a bad thing really- these Commonwealth nights are cold."

Haylen let herself chuckle again in response, before she did an overview of the injury and made sure her work was good enough. She wished she could do more, but this was hardly the place for it. "You doing alright? How are you feeling?" Haylen questioned, as she helped the woman to roll onto her back once more- figuring it to be more comfortable that way. She moved her hands to Ghost's face, feeling the slight burn of her skin, before she pushed a few loose strands from the woman's face. She was pale again- bringing attention to the surplus of freckles she had on her chest now, no doubt from her constant exposure to the sun.

"Better," Ghost offered, managing a brief smile with the word.

And Haylen tried not to take it at anything else but face value, but it was a little hard not to given the slight fluttering in her chest. "I hate to say it Ghost, but... you're starting to look like a ghost again."

It was easy to see how the woman was trying to fight back a grin, and ultimately lost as she let it break across her pale lips. "Is that right?" she pressed, before she let her head fall back. "Once more, I ascend."

She had to give the woman props for maintaining her sense of humor still.

Haylen turned and shuffled through her bag once more- this time pulling out a makeshift transfusion kit she always carried with her. She normally used it with blood bags, but she didn't have many with her at the moment. Not enough to bother with anyways, and she wasn't comfortable leaving Ghost behind just to go searching. "I'm going to do a quick blood transfusion, alright? You lost a lot of blood, and you're burning up right now- I can't risk you going into shock or anything."

She cleaned a small portion of Ghost's arm with a sterilized wipe, before she slipped a needle into it.

And then attached the other end of it into her own arm.

"Is that safe?" Ghost pressed- looking a little surprised by the act.

"Universal blood type," Haylen replied, fiddling with some settings on her kit before she watched as the tube between them turned red. "It'll keep you out of danger until I can get you somewhere safe- preferably back to the Prydwen. Neriah has plenty of blood onboard that she can use to help you; the medical team there can do a proper job on fixing you up. You'll feel sick for a few days, but you should recover and bounce back in no time."

"Believe me, this is not the first time I've needed a blood transfusion," Ghost assured, draping her other arm across her abdomen. "But if I start throwing up, like I did last time, just roll me over, alright? And make sure I don't look like a mess when you hand me over."

"Will do."

* * *

Haylen let Ghost rest for a good half hour before she managed to get the woman up and half-carried her out of the building. It wasn't necessarily the best of idea, but it was either this, or wait for God knows how long until another unit could be reached by radio. Ghost seemed pretty confident that they would run into some of her men along the way, which was better than nothing at least.

Luck was with them though.

A vertibird was circling overhead by the time they made it outside- nothing more than routine patrol, but easy to flag down. And as soon as the flight team realized who was injured, they seemed all the more willing to assist. Haylen got Ghost onboard and strapped in- warning the team to take it easy and taking it upon herself to call the Prydwen ahead of time to make sure the woman was taken care of.

"Neriah will take care of you from here," Haylen assured, briefly patting Ghost down to make sure she was firmly tucked in. Her leg would be okay during the quick flight over, the sealer should hold her together, but that didn't mean she wasn't nervous still. "Within a week's time, you'll be back in the field."

"Goody," Ghost replied with a sarcastic undertone. "Well hey, when I get out, I'll be sure to drop by Cambridge and share some more of my _Ghost_ stories with you. You seem like you're enjoying them."

Haylen wanted to both laugh and groan at the line- which seemed to be an amusing reaction to the other woman. "Stay well, Knight," she spoke, before she tapped on the back of the pilot's seat and stepped out of the vertibird.

As much as she wanted to go with Ghost, she had to get back to Cambridge and return to her post.

Her heart was in her throat the entire run back to the station- knowing damn well that she had already broken a pretty serious rule within the Brotherhood. She could face potential expulsion if she were to get caught outside of post; and considering that the flight crew had already seen her, it was pretty likely to happen. But more than likely, they didn't know she was even supposed to be on post right now.

It didn't matter though- she had to do it, she had to leave.

She had to save Ghost.

Had to save Luka.

* * *

Haylen felt a little bit of hope when Cambridge came back into sight- and that there were no visible units around the place. If there were Raiders, or Gunners, the place would've been swarmed by now; Ghouls too for that matter. But there weren't. It was just as she had left it- _thankfully_.

Making her way up the front of the building, she tried to hurry inside just in case there was a potential unit just around the corner. If anything, it would seem more like she had just stepped out for some fresh air, rather than the fact that she had been gone for almost four hours now.

In her rush to get inside, she failed to even notice that the door was already unlocked underneath her hand.

 _"Haylen, what is the meaning of this?"_

She froze as the question caught her two steps in the doorway.

Paladin Danse was one thing to expect.

But... Elder Maxson himself was another.

* * *

She left Cambridge.

She abandoned her post.

That was all Elder Maxson saw of it.

The Brotherhood was so tight knit due to the Institute presence in the area, they wouldn't risk so much as a spare word getting out about their ongoing projects- about Liberty Prime. It was paranoia taken at root, taking over the Elder and convincing him of Institute spies everywhere he went. And somehow her deserting her post, deserting a two-hundred year old police station, was a weak link in their defense; a loose brick in their fortified walls.

And the Brotherhood couldn't afford that.

Haylen sighed and paced the makeshift holding cell she had been stuck in for three days now- feeling where the cracked concrete had already molded to her footsteps from pacing so much. As much as she had complained about Cambridge before, she would've preferred to have been locked in one of those old jail cells than in this place. Despite the convenience of being at a pre-war police station, Maxson had her transported to the Boston Airport instead, where a few rooms there had been turned into holding cells.

She supposed it had been done so to keep a closer eye on her- not to mention, her unit frequented Cambridge so there was a conflict of interest there.

... She hated it.

Hated the salty breeze that blew in from the coastline from time to time, hated the humidity, and constant movement and noise from Knight-Sergeant Gavil's crew as they transported supplies in and out of the airport.

She tried to argue her case with the Elder, tried to argue that given the circumstances, given what could've happened, she didn't have a choice. But no matter how hard she argued her point, it didn't seem to sway the Elder the least bit. He still had her jailed for the time being while he weighed out her use to the Brotherhood.

Not his exact words, but she knew what he meant.

...

Three days and still no word on her indictment.

It didn't necessarily mean anything bad, but... didn't mean anything good either.

Neriah had dropped by that first night, angry and spitting at the situation, at the circumstances. Haylen couldn't recall a time where the woman had been so worked up over something that wasn't involved with her experiments.

 _"He's crazy," Neriah spat, voice low in the shadows of dusk, as Knight-Sergeant Gavil was too busy handling shift changes for his unit to overhear her. "Knight Ghost would've been dead had you not arrived when you did- had the Elder not chosen to bottleneck everyone around here for GOD knows why."_

 _Haylen almost wanted to laugh at the fire in the woman's eyes. Neriah very rarely spoke outside of her work, and only spoke with Elder Maxson when it came down to arguing her case for her experiments- such as having the live molerats onboard the Prydwen. No one spoke against Elder Maxson, and Haylen supposed a situation like this made them all realize how blindly they had trusted an equally blind man._

 _"How is Ghost?" she questioned, choosing to ignore the bulk of everything else going on. She was tired, and more than a little peeved about the situation herself- but also physically exhausted from the strain she had put her body through earlier that day. From traveling two hours to and from Cambridge, to helping Ghost, to donating some of her own blood... She had yet to sit down without feeling restless, and it was just now taking its toll on her._

 _Her mind was awake, but her body was on the verge of passing out._

 _So for now, she would let Neriah be angry enough for the both of them._

 _Neriah gave a brief huff and leaned against the barred door between them, crossing her arms as she did so. "She pulled through well enough; she's resting onboard right now. Would've bled to death had you not sealed the wounds- thanks for not using stitching by the way. Give her two days max, and she'll make a full recovery on her own. She'll walk with a bit of a limp for awhile, but she's alive and well."_

 _That was all Haylen wanted to hear._

 _It was enough to lift the weight off her shoulders- enough to promise her a good night's sleep later on that night._

 _"That's all I care about," Haylen nodded, leaning against the door just the same. She could somewhat peek out and see a sliver of the outside through an opened door nearby; she knew it was nighttime, but the security lights outside made it look about as bright as morning. "Listen, why don't you just head back up, and keep your head low, alright? I don't want you tangling yourself in this mess- not so soon anyways. I mean, who knows, it might just blow over." The words were weak even to her, and she felt them taste like ash on her tongue._

 _And the look Neriah shot her told her that the woman thought the same thing- calling her out on her bullshit._

 _"I'm on your side, Haylen," Neriah assured. "Don't forget that."_

 _"I won't."_

Neriah was the first of several people who willingly stood up for her- who said that, while it was Elder Maxson's decision, no one really thought that she had been in the wrong. They were a Brotherhood, they looked out for each other; it was why they referred to one another as Brothers and Sisters, it was to help build that bond out on the field. To build a bond throughout training, and up till combat.

And if there was anything that Haylen knew about being in combat, about being out in the field, it was that you had to depend on the Brothers and Sisters around you. And they had to depend on you.

With each passing day, she felt herself getting more and more irritated over the matter- angry even. She no longer held that sliver of guilt that maybe she should've thought twice about her actions; that maybe she should've tried to call someone else to let them know about the situation.

But it all came down to the one fact that, if she hadn't been there, Ghost would've been dead.

Haylen paused slightly in her pacing, standing towards the back of the cell as she heard the familiar sound of heavy footsteps clanking in step. As she listened to the hefty sound of metal on broken concrete, slightly crumbling it further under foot. Sighing, she tried to tuck away what restlessness she had as she walked towards the barred door once more. Leaning against it in time to see Proctor Ingram enter the building and make her way towards her. "Afternoon, Proctor," she greeted.

The woman seemed to roll her eyes at the greeting, before she stood in front of her- her metal frame creaking slightly as she settled. There was a minor look of annoyance on her tired, aged features. "Still here, I see."

"At least until I understand my charges," Haylen spoke, letting more than a little hint of sarcasm leak into her tone. Normally she would've reprimanded herself for it, but she had a feeling that Ingram shared in her irritation.

And the confirmation of such came in the heavy sigh that escaped the woman. "You broke the rules," Ingram started, looking more tired than normal- all the work on Liberty Prime must've been working the woman to the bone. "But saving Knight Ghost feels like honest justification, no matter how much you argue it."

"It should be," she replied- hearing the edge in her voice now; that restless anger stirring back up. "It wasn't easy getting to the Commonwealth on our own, let alone on foot. And the moment we stepped into this place, it felt like everything and everyone was against us; we lost Warwick, Keane, Dawes, and Brach. I did everything I could to save them, but sometimes I was too late, and sometimes I just wasn't enough. I kept their holotags with me as a reminder that I needed to do better the next time around- that I had to do something. When we first got to Cambridge, I dragged Rhys' sorry ass out of the line of danger, putting myself on the line to do so; I didn't want to bury his holotags in my pocket and hope that I might forget one day. My job is to provide support whenever I can; it's what I do for the Brotherhood."

Haylen paused slightly, realizing she was letting her words get to her- realizing that she was airing out three days worth of anger. Three days worth of thinking all the details over and over again only to come to the same conclusion: that she was in the right. And that no one here, Elder Maxson especially, could convince her that she had made a mistake by risking herself, and by risking Cambridge, for the life of someone else.

"I buried four of my Brothers... so when Ghost called in, I told myself I wasn't going to bury another."

Ingram gave a nod, and reached one hand through the bars of the makeshift door- gently gripping onto Haylen's shoulder. "And that's exactly why you're too valuable to be locked up behind a door- all for doing right by your Sister." There was a genuine sense of understanding in the woman's voice, a genuine sense of compassion, before Ingram moved her hand to ruffle through Haylen's red hair- much like a parent would do to their child. "I'm speaking with Elder Maxson later today- I'll be sure to put in a good word and plead on your behalf. He's always talking about how we can't risk good soldiers, so I'm not sure why he doesn't think he's wasting you."

"I wish everyone thought like that, Ingram."

* * *

"- _Haylen_."

It was close to midnight when she heard what might've been a whispered call of her name. It was enough to stir her from her bed- not that she had been asleep, not that she could sleep much, but the art of lying down was enough to sustain her for the time being. Rubbing at the back of her head, she half turned and looked over towards the door, wondering who the hell would be bothering her so late at night.

And she found her answer in bronze skin and freckles.

"Ghost?" Haylen questioned, as she rolled herself to her feet now, and started towards the door. While the sight of one of the BoS regulated orange jumpsuits looked odd on the woman, it came to no surprise that the top portion had been zipped down and tied around the woman's waist instead- revealing a thin, white shirt with the sleeves ripped off underneath it. "What the hell are you doing here? And how the hell did you get in here?" she pressed- surprised, but certainly not disappointed to see the woman again. Usually in terms of these sort of cases, members of both active parties weren't allowed to speak with one another; something about soiling information.

Conflict of interest.

"Haylen, come on, I gave you my whole back story and everything- I'm _Ghost_ ," the woman replied, cracking a brief grin at her own response. "Are you alright? No one tried to rough you up, did they?"

An odd sort of response, but... given the woman's own military background, Haylen supposed there were reasons behind such a question. "I'm fine, just... playing this stupid waiting game is killing me," she assured. "I think the Elder's doing it on purpose to thin me out, but who knows- maybe he forgot about me entirely. Doesn't really matter though, I'm stuck here until he reaches a conclusion about this ordeal; his orders."

Once more, her irritation was coming out, and she was willingly letting it.

"I can spring you free if you want," Ghost offered.

The offer was tempting to say the least- especially if Haylen wanted to give Maxson the old middle finger. But... there was a lot at risk here- too many people at risk, and she would be soiling their reputations in the Brotherhood if she decided to jump ship in the middle of the night. "Thanks, but... I'll just wait this one out," Haylen replied, leaning against the door once more. "Very tempting offer though."

Ghost seemed to study her for a moment, as though trying to find the barely-there truth in her words. "... I can kill him if you want me to."

Haylen chuckled lightly at the counter offer. "If I was a lesser person, I think that'd be something I'd almost like to see," she mused- only to notice that Ghost's expression didn't match the situation; it was hard, and unmoving, like it was set in stone. Like this... suddenly wasn't a laughing matter to her.

And it only took a few seconds for Haylen to realize that Ghost had been serious in her offer.

And suddenly that rifle strapped to the woman's back seemed all the more powerful.

The front of the Prydwen, where Elder Maxson spent most of his time, was suddenly all too open, all too easy- too isolated.

"Luka, no," Haylen quickly backpedaled, not even realizing that she had spoken the woman's name in the stumble to correct herself. "That is far too dangerous, and it will do more bad than good, believe it or not."

She was angry over the situation, sure, and her building doubts over her dedication to the Brotherhood had been mounting quite considerably the last few months... But she would never want to see the organization end like that. The Brotherhood had struggled enough to find a competent Elder after Sarah Lyons, and while Maxson was questionable in some regards, he had helped them regain some of their lost footing.

There were too many people invested in this organization, and they were still doing some good by the people.

There would be far too many consequences should they go down.

"You saved my life, and he treats you like shit," Ghost reminded; her own voice hovering on the edge of bitterness. "He would've wanted you to keep Cambridge safe for him, and would've wanted me dead."

The growing annoyance in Ghost's voice was all too easy to hear, and once more Haylen was reminded of the woman's distaste for the Brotherhood to begin with. She could see how Ghost was taking this personally, and she couldn't blame her for doing so. Still, she was beginning to wonder if Ghost wasn't just taking it personally for herself, but for Haylen as well.

Ghost had made it clear from day one that she wasn't a fan of Maxson, or really the Brotherhood in that regard. Something like this happening only seemed to stir her previous doubts about the faction, about joining. And even now, Haylen could remember the woman's words about disliking militarized setups.

"Answer something for me, Luka," Haylen started, breaking the slight tension on the woman's face with the words. "Why did you join the Brotherhood?"

Ghost seemed slightly taken aback by the sudden remark, and frowned in response to it- a look of uneasiness spreading over her. She glanced elsewhere, breaking eye contact for the time being, and something told Haylen that she might not like the answer.

But at the same time, it made Haylen repeat the question to herself, to try and find what her original reasoning was as well.

"Resources," Ghost finally spoke after what felt like a full minute or so of silence, before she looked back to Haylen. "The Brotherhood has technology; it has power and resources- things I need to get what I need done. I know full and well that Maxson's just using me to advance his hold on the Institute, so I might as well return the favor. So many people are going after the Institute right now- some for war, others for personal business. And right now, apparently I'm the only link people can find that'll take them straight there; I'm a popular commodity in the Commonwealth." Pause. "I was a popular commodity pre-war too."

Haylen wanted to say that she was surprised by the response, but she wasn't.

Ghost wouldn't be the first person who had joined the Brotherhood in an attempt to milk the resources- the only difference was that she was proving herself to be useful to the organization. Most people joined, took what the could, and booked it for the hills as soon as possible. Maybe she was trying to cover her tracks, maybe she was trying to do some good while keeping herself at arms' length away, who knew.

"Why are you going after the Institute?" Haylen pressed once more- figuring now was as good as any to try and clear up rumors and any misinformation. After all, it wasn't like she was going anywhere.

The woman sighed, brushed one hand over her hair, which was now dangling freely behind her in a long braid- no longer pinned up as normal. "The Institute took my son," she started, leaning one shoulder against the door between them. "And I know when I find him, he won't be the same child he was before the bombs; he won't be my baby. I know the Institute did something to him, changed him, or... I don't know." Desperation, exhaustion rang heavily in her voice; this wasn't the first time she had given this answer to someone. "... But I have to finish this- if anything, I need the closure for myself. I need the closure for Eli."

So the rumors had been true then.

She did have a husband, and she did have a child- a son.

What a nightmare to wake up to.

A destroyed future, a dead husband, and a missing child... She didn't know how Ghost did it.

Haylen gave out a sigh and moved one hand to brush against Ghost's arm, feeling the slight heat of her bronze skin. It felt nice against her own, which was partly chilled by the lack of sun in her holding cell. Fingers didn't get to linger long though, before Ghost immediately moved to take Haylen's hand in her own. "I wish you luck then," she started. "Better luck than me anyways."

It was enough of a break to seemingly garner a quiet laugh from the woman, as she squeezed Haylen's hand before Ghost brought it to her lips- brushing them against her knuckles. "Come on, you have to let me break you out of here. I can't just leave you in this shithole- especially after you saved my life."

"That will literally cause bigger problems than the one we already have," Haylen spoke- hoping the darkness of the cell was hiding the warm flush to her cheeks. She hadn't exactly expected Ghost to hold onto her hand, let alone kiss it, but the woman kept it firm in her grasp still- almost desperate to keep it. "I'll be fine. I've been in worse situations. You, on the other hand, should go. If you get caught talking to me, we'll both be in bigger trouble."

"Last I check, the Brotherhood didn't employ Ghost hunters," the woman remarked- earning another soft groan from Haylen. "Okay, okay... Listen, I'll be gone for a couple of days- I got business elsewhere that I need to handle. I'm sure I'll hear about the verdict one way or another, but if something happens- if _anything_ happens, you can find me at Fort Independence, alright? Just ask for the General, they'll know you'll be looking for me."

Something about the words seemed to say that Ghost was expecting the worst of the situation, and was trying to provide a way out for her; it was something that Haylen would certainly keep in mind.

"Thanks. I'll uh... remember that," Haylen nodded, before the creaking of a door in the distance signaled that the morning crew was reporting in. "Now _go_ \- disappear, or whatever it is that ghosts do."

The woman gave another brisk laugh, before she reached through the door and cupped her hand against Haylen's jaw. And there was no hesitation as Ghost pulled her forward enough to brush her lips against Haylen's through the bars. Subtle and light, like a faint whisper before she pulled away.

"My offer is always on the table," Ghost reminded.

And just like that... she disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

Haylen's heart was in her throat the entire ride up to the Prydwen.

Normally she liked riding in the vertibirds, but today didn't carry that same sense of childish enthusiasm that Rhys would merciless tease her over. Today, she felt like she was wedged into the small corner seat of the aircraft- desperately trying to pretend that the entire ride didn't make her feel even more like a prisoner. No matter how insistent she was that she was innocent, Haylen felt her own argument seem waning with how she had been treated during this whole process. It almost made her feel guilty, almost made her want to accept a verdict that wasn't true, if only to make the ordeal end.

 _Just take deep breaths._

 _You'll get through this._

She emptily wished that someone, either Ghost, or maybe even Danse, would be there on scene for her arrival, but such wasn't the case. It only brought up a damning sense of loneliness, of isolation- something that wasn't entirely common to feel onboard the Prydwen. Especially since there were a couple dozen of Brothers and Sisters onboard to spend time with.

(One was never really alone in the Brotherhood- although such wasn't the case right now).

Two Knights greeted her when the vertibird landed, and escorted her to Elder Maxson's office.

It didn't exactly spell out good news for her.

Did the Elder really feel as though she would be a runaway risk, or some kind of threat?

Walking in through the main deck, Haylen reluctantly made her way to Maxson's office; the large silhouette of the man was easy to spot from a distance. Then again, it would be hard to ignore the way he seemingly stood with all his pent up glory holding him up on his heels- standing with an imagery stick up his ass. The Knights stopped at the open doorway, and she did too.

She took note that the Elder didn't so much as turn around to face her in the slightest.

Instead, he gestured for her to come forward with a wave of his hand.

Like she was some kind of dog.

The Knights departed, and she was left standing there alone.

For what felt like a few too many silent minutes, they both just stood there- with her staring at his back in silence, while he seemed preoccupied with scouring the Commonwealth view in front of him.

As though expecting the physical head of the Institute to suddenly pop up out of the ground.

"You should be fortunate that you have so many willing to stand up for you," Maxson finally spoke, breaking the silence as he slowly turned around to face her. There was an obvious edge in his voice with the words, one that cut as though he had been hoping everyone would've denounced her instead. "Paladin Danse, Knight Rhys, and Knight Ghost have all spoken in your defense- as well as Proctor Ingram, Head Scribe Neriah, and several others. They have all vouched for you and have argued your case for you." He took a slight pause, as though to elongate the verdict. "Leaving your post is grounds for immediate expulsion should the charges have stuck. Fortunately, we are short on Scribes- especially ones with your experience and expertise."

... That was it?

That was the only thing saving her?

Her ability to work in the field- her ability to _work_ for the Brotherhood?

Haylen knew she should've expected as much, but still... the confirmation of it cut at her; it made rocks roll in the pit of her stomach, tight and nauseating.

"With all due respect, Elder, if I hadn't left, Knight Ghost would've died-" Haylen started, knowing well she was speaking out of turn. And such action was cut as Maxson raised his hand to silence her. She knew better than to try and defend herself to his face, but... She and several others had been saying it over and over again, and he still wasn't listening to them.

He wasn't listening to _her_.

"That is only an excuse," Maxson retorted; his voice slicing still. "Your Brothers and Sisters have saved you from expulsion for the time being, Scribe Haylen, but you're still on thin ice here. For now, you will be placed on heavy probation, and I will have Proctor Quinlan monitor your actions and work."

Proctor Quinlan?

Great, that would mean that she was being pulled from ground work and being placed on the Prydwen.

Haylen could feel herself almost shaking with how angry she was- with how betrayed she felt. After everything she had gone through, and done for the Brotherhood, for Elder Maxson, it was all kicked under the rug. She was being treated like a Squire who got caught up past curfew. She was the one who had located the Institute signal in the first place for God's sake!

"... Permission to speak, sir?" Haylen requested, mustering up the best obedient tone she could- biting down on her own tongue and anger.

The Elder seemed to contemplate her request, eyes studying her over as though knowing how angry she was, before he nodded. Like it was some kind of test to see how well she could control herself- or maybe he was purposely tempting her to see if she would snap. To give himself a better reason for threatening her position.

"Permission granted."

Haylen had to fight through the knot in her throat to speak.

"I'll take the expulsion," Haylen spoke- catching the look of surprise that managed to break the Elder's tense features. Shaky hands struggled to remove her holotags, before she tossed them at his feet, and follow them with her heavy vest and fitted cap. She would be keeping the rest of her uniform though; it was unlabeled, and wouldn't resemble a Brotherhood uniform from a distance. "It's been nice serving with you, Elder." A lie, but she still needed to make it out of his office alive. "All I request is a fly back to ground level- and if not, I'm willing to take the big jump myself."

It was all happening so fast, she wasn't certain if she was keeping track of her words. Of her thoughts.

In any other situation, or with any other leader, he might've tried to convince her that she was making a mistake.

That without the Brotherhood to protect her, this was just one long suicide mission.

But not him.

Not Elder Arthur Maxson, the last of his bloodline.

He was too proud to take back any of his threats.

"Very well," he bit- no doubt angry that she had managed to undermine him. "You'll fly back on the vertibird you rode in on, and I'll announce your expulsion to the rest of the crew by tonight. From here on, you will not interact with any and all Brotherhood units, or patrol. And they will be instructed to do the same. Any repeated acts of communication will have you marked as an enemy, and you will be fired at upon sight." He paused, if only so slightly. "Your work will be missed by the Brotherhood, Haylen."

The words left a sinking hole in her chest and stomach, and threatened to fill her throat with bile.

For a second, she flinched with regret, with second thoughts.

But easily pushed the feeling down before it could cling onto her.

"Thanks, Arthur," she replied, before she turned to go- heading out before he had a chance to snap. She supposed some part of her figured he might put a bullet in her back for such disrespect- she might've even welcomed the bullet at this point.

But she made it outside and onto the vertibird without incident, without word.

Without regret.

* * *

 _"- if anything happens, you can find me at Fort Independence, alright?"_

Ghost's words rang inside of Haylen's head as she watched the vertibird fly off- the pilots giving her a brief salute, not knowing about her official terminated status with the Brotherhood. They wanted to drop her back off at the Boston Airport, but she had managed to convince them to drop her off near the South Boston police station instead- citing that Elder Maxson tasked her with an exaggerated search for technology in the area.

And either she was more persuasive than she thought she was, or the pilots just didn't want to deal with her any longer than they needed to. (Or maybe her affiliations with police stations made it more believable as well).

Either way, they didn't so much as argue the request, and took her straight there.

Which meant that most of her journey to this Fort Independence was done without breaking a sweat.

It was still early in the day, almost noon by now maybe, so she would have plenty of light on her side to finish the rest of the journey on foot.

...

Haylen wasn't necessarily in a talking mood, and she certainly wasn't in the right place to intermingle with other people just yet. She was still angry, and hurt- bitter mostly; she knew she wouldn't made good company for anyone. She had her own demons that she needed to come to terms with right now. But she was also alone now, a scavenger once more.

And the number one thing she would need before the night came was shelter, a place to feel protected.

And she knew that she would find it there, at the Castle.

With Ghost.

* * *

Fort Independence, lovingly nicknamed the Castle by the Commonwealth now, had been under Brotherhood monitor for awhile now.

Nothing serious, just the occasional close flyby with one of the vertibirds to see what was going on- to see if anything ' _suspicious_ ' was occurring.

From the reports she recalled reading, Haylen remembered Maxson referring to the place as a 'collective home for unorganized, unskilled militias with guns'. He had denounced their cause the moment the Brotherhood had set foot in the Commonwealth. He had also repeatedly stated that, while innocent enough, if it came down to it, the so-called Minutemen of the Commonwealth would need to be disbanded- by force if necessary.

And that if there were any candidates with potential, they would be recruited into the Brotherhood instead, to better serve the Commonwealth they swore oath to.

Maxson had perhaps been unknowing of Ghost's involvement with them at the time, but Haylen remembered the woman turning a few shades of red at hearing the rumor.

 _"It will be a cold day in HELL for him if he ever thinks of touching my men."_

Haylen found herself uncomfortable and near shakingly nervous as she slowly climbed the dirt hill that lead up to the slightly crumbling structure. She could only hope that this would all work out as well as she thought it would- but it would only work out that way if Ghost was here. And even then, that could've just been an empty promise made in the heat of the moment.

No.

No, she trusted Ghost.

She had saved the woman's life after all.

Haylen made it to the opened double doors before someone stepped out to seemingly greet her. She could hear and see movement from the walkway above, and wondered just how long the men on patrol had been watching her. If they had saw every nervous step from a distance, and wondered just what the hell a woman like her was going to be bringing to their doorstep.

"Sergeant Witcher, ma'am, can we help you?" a man in full uniform questioned. His suit seemed a little... outdated compared to the Brotherhood wears, but it wasn't impractical by any means. If anything, it seemed more suitable given the environment around here. The hat was a little overdoing it though. "Is there a problem you need solvin'?"

He had even introduced himself first before speaking to her.

Commonwealth courtesy, she guessed.

"I was wondering if the General was in." Haylen didn't know if the woman went by Ghost, or by Luka around here. Her gut went with Ghost, but she decided to keep it open-ended for the time being- just in case. It was better to play it safe anyways. There was still that persistent knot in her through, and she found herself subconsciously balling up her hands to keep them from shaking.

"She just got back," the man, Witcher, nodded. "Is she expecting you?"

"Not necessarily," Haylen slowly replied. "Can you tell her that Haylen is here? She'll know who I am."

Witcher nodded once again, and gestured for her to follow him inside of the walls as he headed back in himself. Haylen hesitated, before she slowly followed after him; her eyes locking onto every detail and every bit of movement around her.

On the other side of the doors, the Castle opened up into a massive courtyard that was buzzing with movement.

In the furtherest corner from her, two workers were tending to a small, flourishing garden. It seemed too small to support such a large settlement though, which lead her to believe that there was a larger crop field elsewhere.

In the middle of the courtyard was a massive makeshift radio, where a man was reading off a report into the microphone- causing it to echo overhead. A self-made generator buzzed nearby, and occasionally put out a puff of smoke from its cycling belt.

Groups of men and women were moving around, carrying large boxes of supplies from one end of the courtyard to the other. It looked like they were getting ready for departure, ready to send out supplies to... wherever they were needed perhaps. More than likely by foot, although the low bellowing of a Brahmin from somewhere assured that at least they had one pack animal to carry their supplies.

"Here," a bypassing woman in uniform spoke, as she handed off a bottle of water before she carried on with her supply cache.

Haylen supposed that she did look to be a scavenger rather than a heavily trained soldier, but she felt awkward with the clean bottle of water now. It was a simple thing, but it only reminded her of why she was here- reminded her of how people would view her now. Reminded her of what she had left before. The woman had already walked off before she could hand it back though, leaving her to deal with the uncomfortable weight of it in her hands.

She watched as Witcher quickly made his way across the courtyard ahead of her, hopefully going to get Ghost.

Just about the same time that the woman herself stepped out of one of the stone doorways straight ahead.

Haylen watched as Ghost stepped out with another man at her side- tall, dark, and dressed even more suitably than the others; his uniform, while still a matching tan, was different from the rest, making him stand out more so. Still with the hat though. And then there was Ghost, dressed in a dark-blue suit that Haylen had never seen before; it covered every inch of her too, making the woman look a little awkward in it.

It was impossible to tell what the two were discussing, but judging by their matching expressions, it must've been pretty serious.

Still, it didn't stop Ghost from stopping their conversation long enough to speak with Witcher.

Even from a distance, it was easy to see her face furrow in a look of mild confusion, before the woman looked up and caught sight of her.

And Haylen felt that same fluttering sensation in her chest as Ghost locked eyes with her.

With a hefty pat to their chests, Ghost left the two men behind and hurried over.

"Haylen," she started, as she drew closer to her.

One hand moved to rest at her shoulder, before the woman pulled her in against her- hugging her tight before Haylen had a chance to respond.

"Yeah, that would be me," Haylen replied, giving the woman a light pat on the back, feeling a little too awkward to do much more than that. "So this is the infamous Castle, I presume."

"It's pretty great, isn't it?" Ghost laughed as she pulled away, before she pointed to the far wall of the courtyard. "I accidentally blew up that walkway right after we had reclaimed the place from a Mirelurk Queen- still in the process of rebuilding it. But other than that, the place is sturdy, and does it's job." She turned her attention back to Haylen and gave her a gentle shake of the shoulders. "You decided to come by and give me a visit then?"

"Something like that," she started- and the words alone seemed to be enough to tip Ghost off.

Ghost offered a brief nod, lips pressed somewhat tight. "Alright, well, why don't we just step into my office-"

"Sorry to interrupt, General, but is this the woman you're always talking about?" The question came from the same man that Ghost had stepped out of the Castle with. He looked even taller up close like this, and easily towered over Haylen by a good foot or so.

Ghost, of course, stood nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

"I don't talk that much-" Ghost objected, her cheeks turning a shade of red that Haylen had yet to see on her before. An embarrassed blush, perhaps? And judging by the man's grinned expression, she could only assume that he had asked such a thing in front of her on purpose. "You know what, Preston, you're right- but I have a very good reason for talking so much about this lady right here." And before Haylen could so much as react, Ghost threw her arm around her shoulders, and pulled her in against her- causing her to slightly blush now. "Remember that time I came back with my leg all fucked up?"

"Sure, I had to carry you to your office," Preston replied. "You nearly gave Ronnie a heart attack- not that she would admit it."

"Shit, really? Well anyways, this pretty lady right here is the one who saved my life."

It was easy to see the slight hint of surprise on the man's face now as his eyes seemed to move from Ghost to Haylen, and then back to Ghost. "Well I'll be damned," he started, as he turned his attention back to Haylen. "All of us here really owe you one then. We wouldn't be where we are now without Ghost, and there's no telling where she's going to take us from here."

"Aw come on, you know I didn't do all of this," Ghost urged, before she spoke to Haylen. "Preston likes to give everyone else credit for things that he's done too."

"It's just kind of funny that with as much as you talk about her, you've never mentioned that she was the one who saved your leg-"

"Come on, let's get back to my office," Ghost suddenly interrupted, turning an additional shade of red, before she began pulling Haylen along with her as she headed for the closest entrance.

"But this was just getting good," Haylen teasingly objected as she went along with the woman- leaving Preston behind; although one could easily hear him laughing at Ghost's reaction as well.

She let the woman lead her through the crowd before they stepped in through one of the side doors and entered the Castle itself; it was just as busy on the inside as it was on the outside. They still had to navigate their way through a few boxes and groups before Ghost pushed Haylen through a set of broken double doors- which the woman closed behind them soon after.

It offered a little sense of privacy.

Not too much though, which was worth noting.

The room on the other side was mostly bare with the exception of an old desk in decent enough condition, a cot in the far corner of the room, and a single storage shelf with a few miscellaneous things on it. There was a worn down rug underneath the desk, making it somewhat more presentable- maybe even implying a sense of importance to it. It wasn't exactly pristine or elegant, but certainly homely. Certainly inviting.

It made her feel a little better about being here.

"Sorry about the mess, we just got a bunch of our supplies in from the local caravans," Ghost started, seemingly choosing to ignore the topic from before as she brushed her hands off on her long coat. "Do you need anything? We got drinks, food, some new boots-"

"I'm fine," Haylen assured, feeling the need to tug at her own clothing now as she loosely walked part of the room. "Just figured I'd come by and... talk business."

The woman's brow furrowed again as she worked the dark, heavy-looking coat off of her shoulders. There was what appeared to be an armored chest plate underneath it- and the idea of Ghost wearing armor was even odder. "Brotherhood business?" Ghost questioned, to which Haylen nodded. "Is this about Maxson's verdict?"

The one question she had been dreading.

Haylen took a few seconds to gather her nerve as she leaned against the desk in the center of the makeshift office. Nervous hands moved to sit against the flat surface, before fingers curled underneath the bordering trim- giving her something to hold onto. "He wanted to expel me from the Brotherhood," she started- and almost immediately she caught the frown that clung onto Ghost's lips.

"But I spoke on your behalf- a lot of us did," Ghost objected, as she fumbled to hang the coat on a nearby wall hook. "I would've been dead if you hadn't showed up."

Haylen held up one hand to calm the woman- or to at least try to. "He decided to just put me on probation instead," she continued. "It would allow me to keep my position within the Brotherhood, but I would have Big Brother looking over my shoulder everywhere I went. And more than likely, I would be relocated to work on just the Prydwen alongside Proctor Quinlan."

Ghost frowned once more, and seemed to focus on removing her armored chest plate next for the time being- dropping it to the floor when she had slipped it off. Revealing the simple harness attire that she seemed oddly attached to; it was unsuitable for anything in the Commonwealth, and yet Haylen found herself appreciating the sense of habit and normalcy it brought out.

Here at the Castle, Ghost was different; she wasn't the same Knight she was at Cambridge, or on the Prydwen. She was a General- she was the one in-charge. Here, she had the same power as Maxson, although perhaps more respect amongst the Commonwealth- more than Maxson had, or ever would.

But she was still, underneath the layers and the title, just Ghost.

(Just Luka).

"I guess it's better than the alternative..." The words were somewhat muttered underneath the woman's breath, as she rubbed at the back of her neck- her irritation over the situation easy to read on her face.

And Haylen could only begin to wonder how frustrating it must've been for the woman to know that all her hard work, all her hard debates with Maxson equalled out to nothing. Or at least, that's how Ghost must've felt not knowing that her sliver of arguing might've been enough to tip the scale in Haylen's favor with the Brotherhood. That it might've been enough had Maxson not already made his mind up over the ordeal- he he simply not chosen to drag the ordeal out further to make a point, to make an example.

"I chose to leave anyways."

The woman froze in the midst of unpinning her braid from the back of her head; hands still half-caught in the art of it while her eyes were focused solely on Haylen. Any sense of irritation, or anger had dissipated, leaving her with an exposed look of shock. Leaving her with an exposed look of struggling on how to process the conflicting information- after all, all that hard work just for Haylen herself to leave it behind.

"You... left?" Ghost repeated, hands, and braid, slowly falling back to her sides. "On your own accord? But why? I thought you loved working for the Brotherhood?"

Haylen felt that knot in her stomach twist tighter at the words.

"I do- I did anyways. The Brotherhood... it's not what it used to be- what it was back in the Wastelands; this isn't the Brotherhood that I joined," she started. "I'll be honest, I've been thinking about ways to distance myself from them for awhile now. I thought I could work through my feelings, but after awhile the dissatisfaction felt like a weight that was crushing me the longer I stayed. I thought I could do it for Danse, for Rhys, for... Keane, Dawes, Warwick, and Brach."

She took a slight pause, still feeling the weight of holotags in her pocket, still feeling the weight of it all on her chest.

"If anything, this situation gave me a clean excuse to leave, even if I wasn't entirely ready to make that commitment just yet. My only other option would've been to sneak away, which would not have ended well for anyone." Her pause this time was punctured by a quiet sigh. "As far as anyone knows, I was expelled- because Maxson's too proud to admit that I left his organization behind by my own right."

"And I know that couldn't have been easy for you to do," Ghost started. "Although it's nice to know that you at least got the chance to stick it to that asshole-" she stopped as her words quickly seemed to catch up to her. "Sorry-"

Haylen heard herself slightly snort back a laugh at the response- if anything because of the sudden white wash of Ghost's expression. "It's fine," she tried to assure. "I'm still a little peeved off about the whole thing myself. Save someone's life, and suddenly I have to lose everything just to keep my own sense of self-appreciation. If there's one thing I know, it's that you can lose a lot of things out here- but I refuse to lose my sense of self-worth. It might've been my downfall, but it's better than being the laughing stock of the Prydwen."

Another quiet sigh, and a gentle sweep of her fingers through her hair.

"I know it's not going to be easy from here on out. I know I'm going to hate myself for leaving, I know I'm going to have days where I want to go back, but... I can't. Not because of Maxson's rule, but because of my own."

"And I'm proud of you for that," Ghost replied, as she slowly moved over to the desk with her, and pulled herself up to be seated on one of the corners. "Because you're right- if there's one thing you should keep a hold of in this shitastic world, it's the thing that makes you the person you are. Every inch of self-worth, because no one else is going to respect that, and no one else is going to give that to you." Once more, she moved a hand to Haylen's shoulder, and gave her a brief shake. "I know it's early, and you don't have to give me an answer right now, but... if you're interested, there's always a place for you here with the Minutemen. We're always in need of skilled people, and I think you would fit right in with the group. You said you wanted to help people, right?"

It was early still.

Not even a full day had gone by in regards to her departure from the Prydwen, from the Brotherhood.

But she needed a distraction; she needed to do something- anything. Just enough to ease her into the initial shock of leaving, enough to not let the sudden reality of it strike her down.

(Plus, she had no intents of coming here and becoming a deadbeat).

"I'd be wasting all of my skills if I didn't join, so... I guess you can sign me up," Haylen started, catching the quick and easy grin that captured Ghost's lips. "And, rest assured, if any of the Brotherhood units see me in the field, they're ordered to ignore me."

"Oh... you're right, I probably should've considered the potential backlash," Ghost remarked with a slight grimace- although the motion didn't last long. She clapped her hands together and seemed to be in thought before she spoke next. "Alright, well... there's no fancy inauguration or anything around here. I mean, normally you would run training with Ronnie, but I can vouch that you have plenty of experience and can skip her torture course. Other than that, it's usually what I say goes, so..." slight pause before Ghost extended one hand with a grin, "welcome to the Minutemen."

Haylen chuckled lightly at the act, before she took Ghost's extended hand. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"Come on now, my leg is what got us into this mess in the first place," Ghost reminded. "Now, if you wouldn't mind... I technically have a list of things I need to do around the Castle, things that need to be fixed, so..."

"Done."

* * *

There were still a mess of things that Haylen knew she needed to work herself through- a lot of second thoughts and regrets regarding her decision. She knew it was the best choice for her, for her sense of justice, but the reality and gravity of it was slowly starting to set in.

It felt like a hole in her chest as she thought about everyone who had stood up for her, who had defended her- the same people she had left behind now. They would be worried, and no doubt disappointed just the same.

She briefly wondered if they would come looking for her, but she knew they wouldn't.

They would _want_ to, yes, and a few of them might even risk it, but considering how paranoid Maxson was as of lately, it would be near career suicide.

Just like with hers.

While it didn't exactly seem ideal to go from one faction to another in the span of a few hours, and while Haylen would've liked a little more personal time to get over her expulsion, she also knew that this was the better way to do it. She couldn't exactly risk moping around the Commonwealth after all; it was too dangerous, and she'd be too easy of a target. Plus, being here, surrounded by all these other people gave her a false sense of normalcy. It was something to ease herself off of the companionship of her Brothers and Sisters.

She wasn't too used to being alone anymore.

Plus there was work to be done, and she knew a distraction would only put off the inevitable, but she needed one.

...

She just didn't think that the distraction would come in the form of standing in cold, calf-deep water trying to clean out a clogged water filtration system.

"I have to admit, this thing is pretty advanced," Haylen spoke, as she put her weight behind a wrench and wrestled with a stuck pipe. Not as good as the massive filtration back in the Wasteland, but these personal units were definitely more handy. They could be moved, reassembled, and spread throughout the Commonwealth to produce personal stashes of clean water rather than waiting for weekly shipments. "Did you find this?"

"Made it," Ghost replied, standing on the other side of the machinery as she tried to replace a few stripped screws. "Took an old engineering book, and some pre-war knowledge to make it, but we got it done. It's not perfect, as you can tell, but it does what it needs to. Sturges, our semi-local handyman, built this one for us- took a few tries, but now he knows how to do it off the top of his head. Been using him to teach a few recruits so we can spread the knowledge around."

Haylen nodded and grunted as the pipe finally came loose under her force- allowing her to quickly yank it off. "Think he could teach me?" she asked, peering slightly into the pipe to see where the blockage was, before she pulled a thin rod from her belt. Aligning it with the exposed pipe, she jammed it inside and began breaking away at whatever was clogging it up.

Seemed to be a mix of rocks and Mirelurk shells.

"Sturges can teach anyone," Ghost answered. "He's not your average mechanic, but he's willing to teach- and he's cute, so there's that."

Haylen laughed at the remark. "I guess I'll just have to see it for myself then, won't I?"

Ghost matched her laugh with one of her own before she finally seemed to tighten in the last screw. Her fingers ran along the pipe and gave it a hefty shake, testing for any weak links in the structure. For now, it seemed like the job was done, and the filtration would be back in working order soon enough- hopefully with no clogs, or running risks of a pipe exploding.

"Can I ask you something that might uh... be sensitive in regards to your trial?"

She glanced over at the question, taking note of the quietness in the woman's voice when she spoke. Not unlike Ghost, but there was definitely something different in her tone this time around.

"Go for it," Haylen assured. "I mean, you were involved with it too, so it was kind of like _our_ trial."

It took a few seconds before Ghost seemed to nod in agreement. "Maxson told me, and I'm sure the others as well, that you leaving Cambridge was a security breach," she started, to which Haylen nodded. "If that's the case... then how would kicking you out not be a security breach as well? I mean, you could've walked two steps away from the Prydwen and been nabbed by the Institute. And then they would've grabbed all the information they wanted off of you."

That was a chilling thought- one that Haylen hadn't considered.

It made her shiver, made her wonder if Maxson had thought of the same thing. If the threat of expulsion had been an empty one, something to scare her with- something to force her back into being obedient to the Brotherhood once more.

But if that was the case, than he never would've let her walk off of the Prydwen in the first place.

But he was prideful too- vain even.

"Interesting point," Haylen admitted, certain that the last few jabs had cleaned the pipe out the best it could be, but she wanted to keep her hands distracted. "The Institute's been kidnapping farmers, and common people around here for years- as the rumors go anyways. I'm not exactly either of them. I'd like to think that if the Institute came for me, I'd be able to put up a good fight. It's hard to say though, and I don't want to appear too cocky about it. If it really came down to it though, protecting the knowledge I have is first and foremost; I'd gladly take the bullet than risk them taking me alive. As would most of the people in the Brotherhood do. As dark as it is, it's one of our training points should ourselves, or someone we know be taken prisoner by a rivaling faction- Gunners mostly though. Back in the Wastes, the issue was with the Enclave, and I tended to far too many Brothers and Sisters wounded or killed by their own bullet. I guess Maxson just assumes that I'll follow that line of training to the end should the Institute get involved."

Ghost gave out a low whistle in response. "I'm sure most people wouldn't uh... go that route, I guess. And while it is a little hard to swallow, I can't deny that I planned for that same exit strategy for most of my career."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, well I mean you know what I did before the war; it was hazardous and dangerous work," Ghost nodded. "Had a lot of government secrets on me, and I couldn't risk them getting into the wrong hands. I used to keep a bullet around my neck for emergency situations, just in case if things went bad. My commander gave me a cyanide pill for a mission once, just as a precaution; I think he was more worried about the information than he was about me though."

Haylen pulled the rod aside and peered into the pipe once more- noting that most of the blockage was certainly gone now. It should be safe to test.

"Do you still wear it?" she asked. "The bullet."

"... Yeah, I do."

Haylen nodded once more and didn't press the subject. "I have to switch the water back on and see if this junk flushes out, alright?"

"Go for it."

Reaching down, Haylen twisted the valve, and felt the pipes rattle for a moment, before the exposed pipe shot water out of it- successfully flushing out what was left of the blockage. Everything seemed to be holding up pretty nicely too. The screws held in place and kept the pipe from breaking away, and the pressure correction kept the whole thing from cracking itself open.

"That's what I wanted to see," Ghost grinned, as she reached through the pipes and shook Haylen by the shoulder. "Just one thing off of the old checklist."

"What else you got?" Haylen asked, wiping the thin layer of sweat from her brow.

"Well, one of our generators caught fire last week, and we've just barely been operating under the blow out limit," Ghost answered. "Think you could fix it?"

"I can give it a shot."

* * *

When evening finally rolled around, the newly-repaired generator was revved up and the new flow of energy lit up the strings of uncoordinated lights that were strung up around the Castle. It was just enough to pool a warm glow that filled the courtyard; a subtle glow that could probably be seen from the dead surrounding cities no doubt. Although probably nothing like the pool of light that came from Diamond City.

It was quiet now that most of the men and women had either departed on their supply runs, or had gone to bed. A small night patrol stayed on-guard and paced slow cycles around the upper walkways- occasionally whispering out conversations with one another. Their dark silhouettes probably looked creepy amongst the warm glow, moving in slow, shifting cycles against the backdrop of light.

Despite the passing hour, the man at the radio remained, and brought up the occasional report every now and again- taking down notes when someone seemed to call in in response.

It was quaint.

A little serene even.

But the clear night sky made it difficult to not notice the Prydwen hovering like an ominous presence off against the horizon. A dark shadow against a darker backdrop- just barely illuminated by the Boston airport below.

Maxson said that he would inform the Brotherhood of her expulsion by tonight, so... by now, everyone knew.

This was the real time of death for her career in the Brotherhood.

It was officially over now.

"You know, I give Ronnie a hard time sometimes, but that woman can grill a mean Radstag," Ghost spoke as she climbed up the small staircase behind Haylen two steps at a time; her footsteps loud and thundering inside of the narrow stone corridor.

The two of them had settled on spending the evening out on top of the Castle- choosing to spend a few cool, nightly hours up top and in the quiet. The far corner of the Castle gave them a great view of the oceanfront, and beach; it let them hear the subtle roar of the waves as they came in against the shoreline. It let them hear the occasional scuttle of a Mirelurk as it scurried across the sand- frightened by the spotlights that clicked on at the hint of movement out front.

They had been sitting on the edge of the wall for an hour or so now, letting their legs hang off the edge, and letting the work of the day ease out of sore muscles. Ghost had disappeared a few minutes before, citing something about speaking to someone, and had only just now returned.

Haylen barely heard the woman at first, but quickly noticed her when Ghost dropped down heavy next to her- thrusting something sharp into her peripheral vision. She felt herself jump at first, before she realize that it was just a skewer with several chunks of cooked meat on it. The twisting throb of her stomach made her realize how unappetizing it smelt though, but she reluctantly took it anyways.

Mostly at Ghost's insistence as the woman waved it repeatedly about in her face- clearly not taking no for an answer.

"Actually, I take that back. Ronnie is always giving me a hard time," Ghost continued, as she chewed on one of the speared meat pieces through the side of her mouth. A rather open, and animal-like way of doing so. Rather than just pulling the meat piece off separately, she seemed set to just chew it off from the skewer instead. "But with food like this, I can tolerate it."

Haylen snorted slightly to bite back a laugh at Ghost's unorthodox way of eating.

She had to admit that the meat did look a little appetizing now- and not because every time Ghost bit into it, a small bit of juice would spill down her chin. Pulling off a piece from one of the meat chunks, she willed herself to eat it; if anything just to get something in her stomach. And maybe she had gotten too used to rush eating between shifts, or overloading on coffee and making herself too wired to eat, but... It was pretty damn good.

"Believe me when I say that anything you eat around here is definitely better than what's on the Prydwen," Haylen replied. "The first piece of advice we give to the new recruits is to not smell it, and try not to breathe in when you eat it."

Ghost chuckled and grinned a wet, messy sort of gin. "That's pretty fucking bad, but it was the same in the military prewar to be honest. But that just means that I'll have to introduce you to the wonders of Commonwealth cooking. I'm still getting used to it myself, but it's not bad. I'll introduce you to the taste of a fresh carrot pulled out of the ground- I mean, I don't like them, but you might. Oh! And Connie of the Abernathy farm makes a mean Brahmin stew; I'll have to get her to make some when we go back next time."

Haylen matched her with a brief laugh, before she convinced herself to finally pull off one of the meat chunks to eat- feeling her stomach begin to unroll itself now. Another nice little distraction that didn't involve breaking a sweat, or smashing fingers. One that just involved her, and Ghost, doing nothing else but... existing in the moment. Taking it in as it was given to them.

She felt the weight of Ghost's arm suddenly against her shoulders, and didn't hesitate to lean into the woman.

"I know what it's like to be forced out of your home, and be shoved into some place new," Ghost started, voice low and gentle. "It ain't easy, and it's not fun, but... it's doable after awhile- even if you don't want it to be. I don't know if you'll like it here, Haylen; I have hopes that you will, but I can't speak for you. Whatever happens, whatever you wanna do, I'll support you."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow, four months really fly by when you don't pay attention to the date of your last update.**

 **Also, fun fact, my document manager stalled out at 10.6K, so this is only half of the chapter that I had originally planned. So if you're wondering why things seem sort of cut off, it's because of that.**

* * *

It was an odd feeling- that much Haylen had to admit to.

To sleep in a bed that wasn't hers- even though technically every bed she had slept in wasn't hers to begin with; even the bunks on the Prydwen were always once someone else's. Out in the wastes beds were always simply borrowed when it was convenient- when they were available. After all, it wasn't like the owners of them ever came back for them.

It was always odd the first night though.

Haylen could never shake the process of wondering and fearing what kinds of memories were made on the bed underneath her. A bed, a mattress, was always a blessing to find anywhere, and one would think there wasn't much to be thought of in simply lying down on whichever one could be found.

She had seen plenty of soldiers simply drop onto an empty mattress without thought, and be out cold within seconds.

Never her though.

Haylen always needed something to cover the bed, to shield herself from it- always for the first few nights at least.

Just the same, it was an odd, unshakeable feeling to wake up in a foreign place, even though she should've been used to that as well. The Brotherhood had taken her everywhere across the country it had felt, and with each new deployment, there was always something new, some place new, to get used to- if only for a few months at a time. Which was why it was so important for them to adapt quickly, and efficiently to every new environment.

And yet, waking up here, waking up in the Castle, was something entirely new.

It was something Haylen wasn't accustomed to- something she didn't want to get used to.

A new place.

A new home.

A new point of starting over- something Haylen thought she was done with.

The first days were always the hardest, she tried to remind herself of that- tried to assure and encourage herself of.

(She still hated it though).

Groaning softly, Haylen tossed and turned once more, trying to make some comfort out of the bed underneath her. After the events of the day before, and a night half-spent looking out across the water, Ghost had offered her the spare bed in her office. The woman had gone out of her way to insist that the thread-bare sheets were clean, and that she only allowed a few, selective people to sleep in the same room as her.

It gave Haylen the impression that Ghost wasn't used to having company, that she wasn't used to waking up with someone potentially next to her.

Then again, considering Ghost's history, and her previous work force, the woman was a loner by trade- whether she was on or off the field. And it would no doubt be surprising for the woman to roll over and suddenly see someone else with her after she was so accustomed to waking up alone.

Ghost would probably feel the same way that Haylen was feeling right now- uncomfortable and detached.

...

It was useless to pretend that she could lie in this bed and be okay.

Sighing, Haylen pushed the rather hefty blanket off of her and pushed herself up; there was no use in trying to pretend that she could sleep- she hadn't been sleeping well for a few days now. It felt like she had already lost her ability to adapt, her ability to conform to her surroundings. She had lost her ability to function as a soldier, let alone as a scavenger. She couldn't get into the headspace of it anymore. She couldn't get into the headspace that everything would work out eventually, that she would push forward despite the obstacles against her.

Everything felt out of her reach now.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the mattress, Haylen set her feet quietly on the floor, and glanced over to the other bed that was pushed against the adjacent wall from her; she hoped that she wouldn't risk waking Ghost in the middle of the night. She had pegged the woman to be a light sleeper, no doubt trained to listen for anything and everything at all times.

Instead, she was met with the sight of an already empty bed.

Maybe it was later than Haylen thought.

Maybe Ghost was already up and about doing her work as the General around here.

Slipping her boots back on, Haylen slowly got to her feet, and managed to work in a brief stretch to wake the restlessness out of her bones. Still, despite stretching out the heaviness in her body, a weight still lingered behind.

This was the first morning she had woken up to without anything ahead of her.

What exactly was this day going to bring to her?

Was she going to be of any worth today?

(And to who exactly?)

Haylen tried to shake the feel of desolation off, and tried to focus more on getting out of the General's office. It was dark inside, but there were faint streams of light coming in through the cracks in the door, probably from the low-lit lanterns in the tight corridors outside. The warm pools of light on the floor gave her some hint of a path to follow in order to get out of the office- but with little furniture to begin with, she didn't have to worry about running into something on the way out.

She just grabbed the bottle of water from the day before, still unopened, and left.

Carefully pushing the door open, Haylen stepped out into the corridor and made sure to push the door closed behind her- quietly at that as well.

The Castle was still a new place to her, and Haylen felt like she would get lost amongst the stacked stones as she minded her steps when she walked by a few slumbering Minutemen; their bunks were placed in the hallways, but enough of a barrier had been built to provide some sense of privacy. It reminded her of the Prydwen, of sleeping asses-to-elbows with the people around you.

But at least the Castle had windows, and fresh air.

The corridor to her left, while somewhat winding, still managed to take her outside though, out into the courtyard.

It was still dark outside, although through the crumbled ruins of one of the Castle's walls, the first hint of the sun on the horizon could just barely be seen. It would still be a few more hours before the sun would emerge and bring on yet another new day.

It was quiet outside too.

Disturbingly quiet considering all of the noise and commotion that had been there the day before.

With a low light above him, the radio man kept to his station as he flipped through the different frequencies the tower had to offer- listening for any sort of voice that might be calling out into the night. Haylen had to admit to her curiosity of how many channels that tower could pick up, and just how good the reception of each frequency was. The man was actively listening for any and all calls of distress; Haylen wondered if the deep-range transmitter would've been a better fit for him instead.

The guards remained on the walkway above, walking the same circular pattern over and over again.

The place felt eerily quiet, eerily still.

And Haylen felt even more out of place amongst all of it.

She couldn't sleep before, but... she didn't exactly plan on what she was going to do once she was out of bed. She was still used to being in solitary, used to waking up and pacing the room over and over again until night came.

She had freedom here, but it still didn't feel like it.

"Haylen?"

The voice startled her more than she would admit to, and Haylen quickly turned around to find the source of it- only to see absolutely no one behind her. No one in the corridors, no one in the courtyard, and yet the voice had been so close by. It send a chill up her spine before Haylen heard the creak of a railing above her, and glanced up- immediately taking note of the braided woman on the walkway above.

"What are you doing up so early? I figured you would've been stone cold by now," Ghost continued.

"Yeah, well... you and me both," Haylen answered with a sigh, trying to shake the slight embarrassment off. "I can't sleep- I can barely think. I just wanted to get some fresh air, but now that I'm out here, I don't know what I'm doing anymore."

(Could've been a _little_ more discreet there, Haylen).

It was easy to see the look of concern on Ghost's face as the woman looked down at her; the corners of her lips just slightly tucked into a frown. There were a few seconds of pause as the woman looked off for a moment, looking as though she was contemplating something, before Ghost looked back to her. "I uh... I was gearing up to go for a run," she eventually spoke once more, and the reluctant tone in her voice was almost too evident. "You're welcome to join if you want."

It was in the dead of night-slash-early morning with low visibility, and low light.

Haylen barely even knew the area, let alone knew what kind of Commonwealth creatures were native to the area, or even knew which ones might be crawling around right now. Mirelurks were the most common at this time of day, but feral ghouls were also a strong possibility- and she had had her fill of them for now.

Still... the offer sounded absolutely appealing in the most mind numbing way.

"If the offer's out there, then yeah, it sounds nice."

"Alright, good to hear," Ghost nodded, before she hoisted herself up and over the bent railing in one fluid motion- jumping down to the courtyard below, and catching herself almost flawlessly on her feet. "Let me just grab a few things, and then we can get out of here."

Haylen nodded in return, and watched as the woman disappeared into the Castle's corridors. Something about Ghost seemed off, but Haylen couldn't put a finger on it. She was pretty good at eyeing when something was wrong, when someone was acting out of the normal, but... maybe it was nothing. After all, this was Ghost in her natural habitat at the Castle, with her Minutemen. Maybe everything that Haylen had known the woman for was just an illusion to the Brotherhood. Maybe this was just how the real Ghost acted.

Something still felt off though.

Haylen wasn't convinced by her own bullshit analysis.

Ghost acted disconnected- even with their brief conversation, Haylen felt like something was missing from her.

Then again, maybe that was just Haylen projecting her own feelings. After all, it wasn't like she was feeling all that attached to the outside world right now.

Ghost returned a few minutes later, a hefty-looking sling bag thrown across her back. She was without her trademark rifle, but carried a much easier to conceal pistol at her hip instead; something small, easy to fire, and easy to carry- it made sense.

"The surrounding city is pretty clean if you're worried," Ghost spoke, as the two of them started towards the double-doors of the Castle. "We mowed through it pretty heavily the first few days of being planted here, and routine walk-arounds keep the place from being inhabited again." The woman pulled one of the doors opened, and let Haylen through first, before she followed after- sliding the door closed behind them. "Our biggest problem for now is still the Mirelurks; they come in with the tide from time to time, and we have to either wrangle them back out, or shoot them on sight. That's just how nature goes though, so there's not much we can do about it for now. I'm kind of hoping they'll get the message soon enough and migrate down the coast or something."

There was a noticeable lack of energy in the woman's voice.

But Haylen said nothing about it as she followed Ghost down the coastal hill and towards the barren city.

They kept walking until they had passed the broken down walls of the former city, entering into a very dimly lit area- although some makeshift lights had been put up along the roads. No doubt so that the passing caravans would have something to light their way for their late-night travels. It was almost eerie how much comfort could be provided from a small pool of light.

They made it halfway down the first street before Haylen noticed Ghost's pace picking up, leaving her just a few steps behind.

She didn't think much of it since Ghost's gait was much longer than her own- maybe it had been she who was slowing down instead.

At least, that was the case before the woman took off ahead of her.

Ghost was well-proportionate throughout, giving her a centralized sense of balance to counteract her tall frame; it allowed for her upper body to counteract the weight and movement of her long legs. Just watching Ghost run, watching her move, Haylen felt like she was watching someone who wasn't quite human. Ghost had mobility, flexibility with her running; she pushed forward, never stumbled a single step, and adapted all too easily and quickly to the broken environment under foot.

And before Haylen knew it, Ghost was gone.

She wanted to call out after the woman, but basic instincts told her that it was a bad idea.

It was late, it was dark, and despite Ghost saying that this place was safe, there was no guarantee.

For all Haylen knew she could potentially alert someone, or something to them- and even with the Castle close behind them, it didn't guarantee an escape.

(Cambridge had taught her that).

So Haylen took off after the woman, feeling clumsy with her own steps as she pushed her way through the darkness.

She could feel the rocks and pebbles of broken asphalt and concrete under her feet, felt the way they threatened to send her flying if she wasn't careful. Just a few feet, and she had Ghost back in her sights, although just barely; the woman was still effortlessly running through the desolate streets. Haylen knew she wasn't going to be as mobile as the other woman, but it didn't stop her from pushing herself- from wanting to run heel to toe with the woman.

There were a few brief seconds where she managed to catch up to Ghost, only to watch as the woman took a sharp left and threw herself over a partly bent, metal fence. In the darkness, in the pools of low light around them, it looked as though Ghost flew over it instead; an apparition of a bad omen in the dead of night.

It didn't deter her though.

Haylen didn't take to the fence, but stuck to the streets- following Ghost along the cracked sidewalks. She tried to keep an eye on the woman, but her dark attire could barely be spotted in the shadows of the buildings around them. So she listened; she listened to the cracking of the woman's footsteps as she ran over broken twigs and kicked aside loose rocks. Ghost didn't make much noise, but there was enough to follow.

In any other situation, it would've been enough to peak someone's interest, if only for it to drop a few seconds later.

Ghost was getting increasingly hard to keep up with, but Haylen was getting increasingly persistent in doing so.

After awhile, it felt like she was simply running on autopilot.

Her body was making the motions for her, while her brain just barely comprehended what she needed to do- although her feet were making the adjustments as needed be. After awhile, Haylen felt herself just slip into the motions, into the numbing reality of running blind through the early morning, chasing after a woman who barely seemed to remember that Haylen had been with her.

In a way, it was almost therapeutic.

It gave her something to focus on, something to do.

It took her mind off of things.

Before Haylen knew it, the two of them had almost looped all the way back to the Castle before Ghost finally stopped. Before the moving force behind the woman came to a steady slow, before Ghost had her hands on her knees, her body bent forward, and her lungs breathing hard.

Haylen felt the same burning in her legs, and the heavy breathlessness in her chest- everything deciding to catch up with her at once. The slight dryness of her mouth had her taking the water bottle at her side.

"What are you running from?" Haylen spoke, killing the silence of the night with five words.

Her hands were shaking as she opened the bottle of water and settled the dry ache of her throat.

Ghost gave a heavy, shuddering exhale, before she straighten herself back up; her bronze skin was red, and slick with beads of sweat. Her eyes never looked away from the horizon in front of them, as though the woman expected the answer to be out there somewhere for her.

"I'm running from Luka," she finally whispered, an oddity of an answer, as hands pushed aside her sticky bangs. "I'm running from Luka's life, from her job, her family- her entire fucking world."

And there was the feeling Haylen was missing from the woman before.

A sense of life.

"I just want to run away from it, just for a little while," Ghost continued. "I can't stand... I can't stand who she is sometimes- who _I_ am. What my world made me out to be, and what _this_ world is doing to me."

Haylen let the water in her stomach settle, before she handed the bottled water over to Ghost. And when the woman didn't immediately take it, Haylen nudged it against her arm until Ghost broke down and took it from her.

"What are you running from?" Ghost asked, taking off the already loosen cap, but she nearly downed half the bottle in one go.

Haylen offered a dry laugh in response. "Do you have to ask?"

It wasn't like she had been running for anything to begin with, she only did it to chase Ghost.

But even Haylen had to admit that after awhile she was running for other reasons.

"Okay, stupid question."

Haylen watched as Ghost took her share of drinking before she poured some of the water over her head, and shoulders- using one hand to rub it across her heated skin. She didn't want to admit that she was staring during the action, but it was hard not to. Ghost didn't seem to care for how her hand circled over her broad shoulders, or how she absent-mindedly rubbed her palm across her the cusp of her breasts. "So now what?" Haylen asked, hoping to distract herself with the question.

"Now, I want to go for a swim."

Haylen frowned at the remark, and barely felt Ghost push the water back into her hand, before the woman headed towards the nearby coastline. It took a few seconds for the comment to click, before Haylen hurried after her. "Are you crazy? Getting into the water is stupid enough on it's own, but at this time of night?" she pressed. "You wouldn't be able to see a Mirelurk until after it had already snapped you in half."

"Can they really do that?" Ghost asked, never losing a step as she continued on towards the littered shore. "Because people have told me that before, but I'm not sure if I believe them. I've seen Mirelurks up close- it just doesn't seem plausible."

"I've seen it almost happen," Haylen spoke, moving to catch up to the woman. "And by that, I mean I've seen a man partly cut in half- there was a lot of blood and a lot of organs involved with it."

Ghost let out a low whistle in response, grimacing some with the answer, before she spoke again in assurance. "I'll be fine."

Surprisingly, Haylen didn't believe that.

"Alright then, well where are you going to swim to? Are you just going straight out into the ocean?" she pressed, hoping that maybe the more she talked about it, the more it would convince Ghost to stop and think. Maybe the woman had done this before, she was certainly acting like she had, but Haylen couldn't be certain. Ghost was just... She was caught up on something right now, and she wasn't acting in the right mindset- hopefully talking more about it would snap her out of the idea.

Ghost stopped at the shore of the trash-riddled beach before she pointed to something off in the distance.

"There," she spoke. "I'm going to swim out to that island."

Haylen frowned once more, and looked out to see where the woman was pointing to, partly convinced that she was just being played here.

But sure enough, there was the silhouette of an island in the distance.

"I'm not going to follow you out there," Haylen protested in a last ditch effort.

"That's fine, you can take the bridge."

Haylen felt caught off-guard by the remark, before she looked to where Ghost was now pointing to the partly-built bridge just a few yards down the shore.

"We started building it a few weeks ago, but then things just kind of got out of hand, and we had to leave it," the woman spoke, wrestling off her sling bag, and throwing her gun into it. "It goes far enough to where you can hop onto the rocks and make it to the island without getting your feet wet. So if you don't want to follow me in the water, you're more than welcome to use the bridge."

"Well, you've just thought of everything now, haven't you?" Haylen sighed.

Ghost only shot her a grin, before the woman held her bag out to her. "If you're coming along for the ride, do you mind carrying my bag for me?"

"Why don't you just take the bridge?" she asked, as she reached out and took the bag anyways- figuring she already knew the answer she was going to receive.

"Because I want to go for a swim."

And just like that, Ghost grinned again before she took a running start into the water and dove in as soon as it was deep enough- leaving Haylen on the beach to contemplate the choices she had in front of her. Not that she had that many... and not that she hadn't already made her mind up.

Sighing, Haylen hoisted the bag over her shoulders, and headed towards the bridge.

She tried to, once more, keep up with Ghost in the water, just barely spotting the woman peeking above the water's surface every now and again. It was a little hint of reassurance that the woman was still alive at least- and that she hadn't yet been dragged down into the depths.

Haylen was nervous the entire run along the bridge, wondering just what exactly she was going to do should something come out of the water after Ghost. She tried to push the thought out of her mind and focus on counting her steps and ignoring the creaking wood planks underneath her. Although that much was a little impossible to do. True to Ghost's word, the bridge made it a little more than halfway before it stopped- just in reach of an ocean rock, and a few shallow sand beds peeking up over the surface. She held her breath with every jump as she moved from one rock to another- half expecting to land on a Mirelurk's back the entire time.

She made it to semi-solid ground with unsteady easy though, and quickly made her way up along the sandy beach and to the scattered grasslands.

She was a little out of breath again, but overall okay.

(She would've paced herself a little better if she knew she was going to be so active this morning).

Brushing the sweat from her forehead, Haylen looked back out across the water for Ghost- but couldn't see a sign of the woman anywhere. She wasn't all that surprised seeing how far of a swim it was, but it still made her nervous. If there was to be a Mirelurk attack though, there was comfort in being able to hear it. But no comfort in being unable to do anything about it. She would be yards away, and the time it would take to wrestle the gun out of Ghost's bag would leave the Mirelurk with a fresh kill anyways.

Minutes ticked by before her mind was set to ease as Ghost re-emerged just a few feet from the shoreline- just enough for her to get her footing and awkwardly wade through the shallow waters. She was completely drenched and looked even more out of breath than she had before, but something about her seemed different. It almost looked like she had enjoyed the agonizing swim.

Like she was alive again.

"Okay... that was nice," Ghost breathed, as one hand scooped back her loose hair, and smoothed it back away from her face. "But I think I'm done now."

"Not going to swim back?" Haylen teased.

The woman managed a choppy laugh in response. "Not right now, no- but maybe later," Ghost assured, as she stumbled up onto the beach now. "Holy Christ, that swim is a lot further than I remember. I am out of shape."

That was highly doubtful considering the firmness of which Ghost moved with; there was hardly any jiggle on her body, other than from the muscles of her arms and thighs. And it was hard for Haylen to ignore the tense muscles that pulled and flexed across Ghost's back when the woman stumbled past her.

"You mean this isn't the first time you've made that swim?" she pressed.

"I do it every now and again," Ghost shrugged. "I usually have to call Preston to come pick me up, but I've got you here now, so the Mirelurks won't come onshore and eat me while I'm passed out."

The tired grin on the woman's face just let Haylen know that this situation was only going to get more and more pleasant the longer it went on.

Sighing, Haylen followed after the woman, watching as Ghost barely seemed to gain traction on the damp grass, but moved across the slight hills with some stumbling. The woman really had worn herself out- and Haylen wasn't surprised. A run around the city acting like it was an obstacle course, and then following it with a God-knows-how-long-mile swim was not an easy thing for the body to hold up to.

She wasn't certain if there were any soldiers in the Brotherhood that could do that back to back.

Following Ghost across the island, which was a lot larger than Haylen had imagined, was a little surreal. It was still dark, and the island was pitch black for the most part, with the exception of some generator-supported lights every now again. It was thick with trees, and brush, which they had to stick to the shoreline to avoid- and even then, Haylen kept one eye on the water just in case.

There were signs of someone having been here once before though.

There were a few trees that had been cut down, and what looked to be supply boxes broken against the shore.

But the place was dead quiet otherwise.

"So what is this place?" Haylen questioned, walking closer to Ghost now in the settling darkness.

"Spectacle Island," she answered. "A nice, little piece of land that no one else seemed to notice was just sitting out here by itself. I mean, someone noticed it at some point, since people used to live out here, but I don't have to tell you that things didn't end so well for them. From what little that I can gather, it seems like some Raiders got to them. And then the Mirelurks got to the Raiders. I don't know how long it's been sitting abandoned out here, but it'd be a shame to let it go to waste."

Well that answered one mystery.

"Seems a little dangerous, don't you think?" Haylen started. "It's isolated, which always seems like a great idea until something bad happens. And being isolated out on the water only makes it seem worse. I mean, what if a Mirelurk Queen stumbled across this place?"

Ghost gave a short laugh and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Actually, funny story, a Mirelurk Queen did sort of have this place on lockdown. It took me a long time to take her down, but the people who were here beforehand had a nice little security system set up. They managed to create some sort of frequency emitter that turned the Mirelurks away from this place, sort of like setting up an invisible wall. As long as I keep the generator fueled, and in check, this place is basically as safe as it can get. And once we get the bridge up, and get this place under security, it'll be a nice little homestead- we might even be able to rival Diamond City with something out here."

Hopeful sounding.

But she supposed she could let Ghost dream.

Her words only brought up another question though.

"Wait, so this place has a system rigged to deter Mirelurks?" Haylen asked.

"Yep."

Simple enough answer.

"So... why don't you recreate it around the Castle?"

"Believe me, I have tried," Ghost replied with another laugh. "But my main mechanic, Sturges, he doesn't like traveling, and he doesn't like the water, so trying to get him out here has been an ongoing struggle so far. The Castle does fine with the defenses we have in place for now, so it's not like we desperately need the deterrent- otherwise Sturges would've swallowed his fear and got out here as quick as he could." The woman paused in speaking, and looked out across the water for just a passing glance. "Besides, after some of the things I've faced in the Commonwealth, Mirelurks aren't really that big of an issue around here."

Haylen nodded, but still got the feeling that if Mirelurks had once swarmed this island, than they certainly would've been a big enough issue for someone.

"You said you guys aren't doing anything with this island, right?"

"It's been put on the back burner for now in terms of projects," Ghost offered in answer. "It's just a hassle to get people out here, and we would have to clear out all of this land first before we could do any real construction."

"You still come out here," Haylen reminded.

The woman shrugged in response. "Somebody has to."

The shoreline and dense tree line eventually broke to reveal a small, shanty kind of shack on the perch of a small sand hill; it was half-built out of the remains of a former cabin, giving evidence to Ghost's story that people had once lived here. And judging by the chaotic state of the house alone, it truly didn't end well for anyone on this island.

"Looks like you made yourself a little fishing house out here," Haylen remarked.

"It's not too crazy, but it gets the job done," Ghost grinned as she headed towards the makeshift stairs and made it up onto the small porch. She shouldered the door open to reveal just a single room inside of the small cabin- slightly cluttered with makeshift furniture, and boxes. "If you don't mind, I'm just gonna change real quick out of these wet clothes."

Right.

It must've been uncomfortable for the woman to have made the travel here in heavy, clinging clothing.

"Yeah, sure," Haylen nodded, keeping to the porch, and watching as Ghost closed the door behind her.

Just what exactly were they doing out here?

And how exactly did she let Ghost drag her out here?

Well, it wasn't like Ghost made her do anything; Haylen came here on her own accord- maybe more out of the dislike of being alone right now. Okay, so maybe she had made the choice to follow Ghost when she herself wasn't exactly thinking clearly either. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did leave her with a lot of questions right now. And a lot of silence that left her with too much time alone with her thoughts.

(And it left her with a terrible view of the Prydwen off in the distance).

Haylen milled slightly on the small porch of the makeshift house, leaning back against the thin railing that had been jerry-rigged onto the face of the building. While there was a lot to be imagined with the structure of the place, there was evidence of careful planning with it. Where Ghost might've lacked the carpenter's touch, she made up for it in design and ideas- as badly as executed as they might turn out to be.

But it was the thought, the process, that mattered in the end.

Haylen could hear the sounds of Ghost moving around inside, bumping into the walls of the small house, bumping into things- more than likely from the low visibility inside. There was an old lantern that hung above the door, and with knowing fingers, Haylen found the barely-hidden lighter placed on the top of the doorframe next to it. She carefully light a small flame inside of it, glad to have some small source of light out here in the dark.

The rickety door was pushed open a moment or so later, and out came Ghost now drily dressed in a loose-fitting mechanic's outfit. And despite the heavy folds around her waist, and shoulders, it was hard to ignore how her tall frame still seemed to pull it off.

(And even harder to ignore the low zipper that revealed that Ghost wasn't wearing much, if anything, underneath it).

"Oh good, I was afraid you might've ditched me," the woman teased, carrying a rather large box in both hands, as she stepped down the half-burnt stairs. Haylen watched as the woman headed down towards the nearby shoreline, revealing where a makeshift fire pit had been built on top of the sand. If Ghost already had a pit and everything set up, with supplies seemingly lying around, it meant that she came out here more often than Haylen had thought before.

"And where exactly would I have gone?" Haylen replied, as she slowly followed after the woman.

"Well, you know where the bridge is now," Ghost offered in answer, shooting another grin over her shoulder.

And even Haylen couldn't deny the stupid smile it brought to her, as fleeting as it might've been.

Haylen watched as Ghost set her box of things down next to the fire pit, before she rooted through the contents of it- pulling out a box of matches, and an old bottle with a worn-away label. There were still some decent pieces of wood inside of the pit, to which the woman poured some of the bottle's contents on, just before she struck a match and tossed it in. And with how quickly the flames shot up afterwards, Haylen could make only one guess as to what the bottle was.

An accelerant.

Very hard to find most days, unless one knew what they were looking for.

"I love the beach and all, but sand gets everywhere, and in everything," Ghost started, as she pulled a blanket out of the box next. She gave the thin material a few shakes before she laid it out close to the fire pit. "Come on, take a seat- I'll even let you have the half that doesn't have any holes in it."

"My hero," Haylen lightly retorted, before she took the woman up on her offer. She sat down on the blanket, feeling the sand underneath her still shift around. It felt like it was almost useless at this point- she probably already had sand in her boots anyways. Haylen continued to watch as Ghost finished setting up the small cooking station over the fire, getting her pot carefully hanging in place over the flames, before she dumped a bottle or two of water into it.

There was a small amount of heat coming off of the fire- and thankfully the morning breeze was blowing the smoke away from them for the time being.

Allowing Haylen to look around them without straining her eyes through the cloud.

As if her morning hadn't been odd enough to begin with.

Now she was sitting here, on the beach of an abandoned island with Ghost, with a cozy fire that the woman was using to boil something. It wasn't exactly the weirdest thing Haylen had experienced, but something about it was certain to make it memorable enough.

"I dragged you all the way out here, so the least I can do is make you coffee," Ghost started, as she finally fell back onto the blanket herself- falling back onto her forearms. "I can't promise how good it's going to be though, especially since it's not exactly my five-cup coffee maker I have at home. And especially since that coffee maker is half-melted into the wall. But hey, I've been getting better at doing this the old fashion way."

Haylen offered a light chuckle at the woman's story, wondering if Ghost was just using it to fill in the empty space between them.

After all, she couldn't see why the two of them would come all the way out here just to talk about brewing coffee. Not that Haylen really would've minded; this whole situation had been enough to take her mind off of things.

But at the same time, it was putting more things into those empty places.

"Tell me something, Ghost," Haylen started, catching the way the woman tilted her head towards her. "You've got the house out here, the fire pit, you even made it clear that this isn't the first time you've swam out here- you're not even scared of the water. Hell, you've even got supplies for coffee on this quiet little island of yours." She could see the woman loosely nodding with her ongoing list. "So just... how often do you come out to this place? And why?"

Haylen could feel Ghost's eyes on her now, even though she herself refused to look back- refused to look away from the fire.

There was a quiet sigh, and the feeling of the woman's eyes pulling away.

"Just, you know, usually whenever I need to scream and not have anyone hear me," Ghost answered, stretching her legs out in front of her now. "This place will eventually become it's own settlement when I have the time, the supplies, and the men to transform it. And I fully believe it'll be a thing of beauty on it's own. But until then, it's far enough from the coast, far enough from the Castle, far enough from anyone and everyone, that I have my own little space for a bit. I can be alone out here in a physical sense instead of just a psychological one."

The corners of Haylen's lips tugged into a small frown, before she forced herself to look at the woman now. "What do you mean?"

Ghost sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck. "It's an island; it's isolated, and the only things out here are the Mirelurks, and even they can't get here. This is a place that I can come to to just... rant, to curse everything in my existence, past and present," the woman elaborated. Fingers moved from her neck and up to her braid, which was pinned tight against the back of her head, before she pulled it loose- allowing it to tumble down against the blanket beneath her. "We're both military, Haylen, so I think we both speak the same language when I say this. When you're a part of the military, when you're a part of something big like that, you do everything for your country. You jump when they tell you to jump- and you pray to high hell that you jump high enough for them. You're allowed to do what you want as long as you don't step out of line when you do it. And after awhile, you get used to the feeling of never being able to say a thing against anything."

A pause.

And Haylen got the feeling she might've opened the flood gates, that she might've tore into Ghost's own little Pandora's box.

"Your country sends you out to these nightmare realms that you will never leave behind you; they send you out to places where a piece of you will always be left behind in. But if you say anything, if you mention anything, about the nightmares, about the cold sweats, about anything outside of the norm, you get shunned. You get kicked to the curb, you get discharged. No pat on the back, no pension, no check- not even a record for people to see," Ghost continued. "The country wipes your name from the list as though it never happened, and you end up dying for your country on your own soil."

Haylen felt the weight of Ghost's words hit her hard in the chest.

She felt them pressing down on her shoulders.

Digging into them.

"It's not good to carry that stuff around- you gotta drop it off somewhere from time to time," Ghost whispered, as she slowly pushed herself into a seated position now. "You and me... God, Haylen, we both lost everything in the blink of an eye. And if you're feeling even just a fraction of what I felt when I woke up in that vault, I don't want you to be alone with it. Not like I was."

It felt like an admission.

An answer.

And it hit a little harder than Haylen had been anticipating.

Part of her wanted to label it as being overdramatic, because between the two of them, they were nothing alike.

Haylen had lost the Brotherhood, sure, but Ghost... Ghost had lost everything. Her world, her home, her husband, and child; she had been thrown into this hellscape of a place with no idea of what to do, or who to turn to. Ghost had to build herself back from the the ground up, but Haylen still had an idea of what to do with herself at least.

... Right?

But on the same coin, Ghost had been a part of the Brotherhood; she knew how it operated.

It was an organization, it was the closest thing to a military that this world had.

But for some people, it was a family; it was their entire world. No one ever really left the Brotherhood. If they were lucky, one got to live out their entire life through the Brotherhood, from beginning to end, serving an entire life's worth of moments on the front lines.

That's how Haylen always foresaw her life going.

So, in a sense, maybe she had lost everything.

And up until now, she had been too stubborn to admit it.

"You struck a nerve, Ghost," Haylen whispered, not wanting to admit to the slight tremble in her voice when she spoke. She watched as the woman got back up to check on the water, boiling by this point, before she turned to shuffle through her box- eventually emerging with a can of coffee grounds.

"I'm pretty good at doing that," Ghost replied, as she scooped out a few spoonfuls of coffee into the boiling water, before she covered the pot with a dingy, somewhat broken lid, and sat back down.

Haylen could smell the faint aroma of coffee brewing from the pot already, and knew it would only take a few minutes for it to finish. An old-fashion way of making it, but seeing as there wasn't much out here to begin with, it was better than nothing. After all, Ghost would've had to lug all this stuff out here on her own, piece by piece, so she couldn't fault the woman for not having a coffee pot. Or a hot plate.

There was more silence in the following moments, before Haylen forced herself to speak again.

Unable to leave the conversation behind her.

"When you were talking before, about the military, about getting kicked to the curb, is that what happened to you?" Haylen asked.

"No, I was... far from being expendable like that," Ghost answered. "I was too important to the government's operations; they liked how I worked, and never bothered with sourcing it out to anyone else. But I saw it happen too many times to the people around me- to the people who weren't as fortunate as I was in the hierarchy of things."

Another pause.

A slight clench of the hands as Ghost settled back, propping her elbows on her bent knees.

"We went to war with China over nuclear power," Ghost continued. "And because most Americans couldn't tell the difference between Chinese, or Japanese, anyone within the states who so much as looked Asian was immediately profiled, sometimes arrested. Our fear, and anger over the war lead us to hand our streets over to fascists. I worked with men and women inside the military who were born in America, but held ancestry in other countries. And seeing them being treated like second-class citizens, while putting their lives on the line for a bunch of racists... It left a hole in me. I did what I could, what I thought I could, pulling whatever power strings I had, but it never felt like enough."

It was a glimpse into another world- one unlike the world Haylen was accustomed to.

A glimpse into Luka's world, the one Ghost came from, the one she seemed to bear dreams and nightmares of.

Haylen felt like she should stop the woman, like she should cut her off, but a different sort of bedside manners kicked in. Where before she would talk, taking up as much empty space as she could to fill in the quiet voids, to fill in the inevitable silence that would hunt her down, this dictated the opposite.

She needed to keep her silence this time.

She needed to let Ghost speak, needed to let her fill in the voids, to fill in the silence, while knowing that someone on the other side was listening. Maybe not always understanding, but listening was always more important than that.

And Haylen had been through this before many times over.

"Eli was second-generation Korean-American," Ghost started again, proving Haylen wrong that the woman was finished speaking. "He was born and raised in the states- even given an American name so he wouldn't face ridicule like his parents and grandparents did. His mother didn't want him learning Korean for fear he would get picked on, but he went behind her back and did it anyways; she was afraid for his safety, and he was afraid of losing a part of himself. He even changed his last name to his grandmother's maiden name because he didn't want to give up his heritage." The tension in Ghost's shoulders, in her arms, all seemed to be pulling from her hands- white-knuckled and shaking. "Eli was a field medic; he was loyal to the military, loyal to his men, and he worked his ass off to keep them safe and alive. More often than not, he would literally drag people to safety- risking his own life for theirs. Everyone knew who he was simply based on what he would call his half-ass heroics."

Haylen felt her stomach twist with the words, with the story.

She knew how things ended with Eli; she knew how his story came to an abrupt, frozen halt.

This felt like a set up...

She knew that whatever was going to come from Ghost next was not going to be happy.

"When he got shot, when he lost his leg to that sniper, and was given time off to recover... It was like everyone forgot who he was. It was like everyone who knew him, who fought with him, now turned against him. He saved lives, and suddenly he didn't deserve to keep his own. Suddenly he deserved what happened to him, deserved to be hunted down, and targeted by a rogue sniper." Ghost's own voice was shivering with the words; her jaw tight from how clenched her teeth were. "People used to say that he should've taken a bullet to the head instead of to the ribs- said that he should've just waited for the sniper to finish him off."

"Ghost-"

She couldn't take it.

The weight, the guilt, the words...

Ghost was carrying too much for one person, too much for someone that everyone else was so depended on.

How the woman hadn't broken underneath it all by now was a miracle in of itself.

Ghost gave out a hard exhale, as though she had been holding her breath the entire time. She released the tension from her hands, from her jaw, allowing her body to release, to relax. A few slow breaths, and she seemed at ease once more. "I carry that kind of shit with me too," she whispered, sighing now. "But when I'm out here, I can give it away to the waves for a little while, and pretend that I'm not carrying it anymore; I can pretend that it's not a part of me."

Yeah...

With weight like that, Haylen could see why this island would seem so appealing.

Why it would seem so relaxing.

Why the fight to get out here would seem so worthy.

Her chest still felt heavy though, her lungs and throat sort of tight.

It wasn't even her story, wasn't even her weight to carry, but Haylen could feel the way it had crushed her still.

"Whenever you're ready, if you want to let something go... just let it go."


	5. Chapter 5

To say that she had a lot of weight lying around just the same was a bit of an understatement.

Well, a hell of an understatement at that.

The weight she had lying around felt more like a rock tied around her waist. It was the kind of weight that felt like there was the heel of a boot pressed against it too- as if the rock wasn't heavy enough on its own. Like a heel rocking back and forth, ready to give the rock a nice kick into the ocean.

It was like the weight of water, of rolling waves, and debilitating pressure bearing down on her chest, bearing down on her lungs.

... But if Ghost was strong enough to let that same kind of weight go, to let it be free for only just a few minutes, than so could she.

"Is that coffee ready yet?" Haylen asked instead, posing the words like it was just another night in Cambridge. Like it was just another night spent at the round table that rocked against the one leg propped up by books and a metal tray- a fixer-up by yours truly. Another night that was filled with more silence than conversation at times but never feeling as though it was too quiet or too alone.

Ghost gave a quiet laugh at the question before the woman moved to check on the boiling pot- as though fully understanding why Haylen might want the coffee first.

Liquid courage was easier to find at the bottom of a bottle.

But it was amazing what a quick caffeine rush could give to a person.

Haylen watched as Ghost seemed content with the contents inside of the pot before the woman moved back to her box. Shuffling some things around, Ghost pulled out two coffee cups and what looked to be some kind of self-made ladle or something. It was a melted rod of some sort that had been heated and forced into a scooping shape- or at least, that's what Haylen's best guess of it was anyways.

Either way, Ghost used the makeshift tool to stir the coffee around before she carefully ladled some of it into one cup, which Ghost then handed off to her.

Haylen graciously took the cup, valuing the warmth that it brought to her hands as she wrapped her fingers around it; the soothing, familiar aroma wasn't something to be ignored either. Some days there was just nothing more comforting than the smell of freshly-brewed coffee. (Although the freshly-brewed part could be questionable.) For a few seconds, the aroma and heat slipped her into a sense of ease- allowing her to ignore her ongoing problems for just a little while longer.

"I don't exactly have any sugar or anything out here just yet so I hope you don't mind it black," Ghost spoke, as she ladled some into the second cup for herself before she eased back down to where she had been sitting. There must've been a tease of some kind in the woman's voice considering that they had always drank it black back at Cambridge. "You guys should get back to me when you've re-created coffee creamer though."

Haylen chuckled lightly at the half-hearted demand. "I hate to break it to you, Ghost, but at the rate things are going right now I don't think coffee creamer is at the top of the list just yet."

"We as humankind have our priorities wrong then."

Haylen gave the coffee some time to cool off before she decided to take the risk and hesitantly brought the cup to her lips.

The first sip was a little strong.

It burned in her throat and left the taste of coffee grinds on her tongue.

She didn't let it deter her completely though and hesitantly sipped at it once more- remembering well that she had had far worse.

After all, no coffee was worse than the worst of coffee.

So bad coffee was still good coffee in some twisted sense.

(And she had stomached far worse things than this.)

"It doesn't make sense, you know," Haylen finally started, finding false confidence in the warmth in her hands, in the stilling warmth in her throat and stomach. "It doesn't make sense as to why Elder Maxson would be at Cambridge- why he would just so happen to be there the one time I bail out. He never steps off the Prydwen unless it's to visit the airport or Fort Strong. He never leaves his office unless it's to have a meeting with his Paladins or someone from the council. There's just... there's no logical reason for him to be out there, to be at Cambridge, so far away from the Prydwen."

Haylen wasn't above admitting that Elder Maxon's presence had been a consistent and irritating mystery that had been plaguing her since the whole exile bullshit. It was like a growth, a tumor, that only grew larger the more she lingered on the ordeal. Not that she was outside of her right to do so; it had only been a few days passing by now after all. She was still stuck in the rut of missing her routine, missing her walks around the police station.

She just hoped that maybe if she talked about the situation than it would eventually begin to make sense to her, that maybe some hidden puzzle pieces would fall out of the sky and complete the story.

And if a miracle wasn't to happen then maybe Ghost would somehow have some kind of answer for her.

"If it had been Danse at Cambridge, sure, I would've been able to convince him to go without reporting it; it wouldn't been easy but certainly doable- Danse isn't an unforgiving hard-ass," Haylen continued. "He probably would've made me pick up the nightshift for a month but so what? And Rhys- he would've given me hell for it, given me the righteous act, but I think he would've understood my reasoning more than he'd be willing to let on. It's not like... it's not like we would've wanted to see someone else die to a completely avoidable situation."

The words stung a little when they left her lips.

The bitterness of the coffee tasted like blood in her mouth.

"It doesn't make sense. Elder Mason said that he was out there for a routine check but he doesn't do those- he never has. He always sends out the Paladins to do it. And even when he does visit, he makes sure that each one is well-known and called ahead of time for- if anything for his own protection."

It just made sense that way.

After all, one wouldn't want for the leader of their faction to just up and disappear should something suddenly arise.

(Although one could argue that that was what Ghost was doing right now.)

"Not to butt in with conspiracy theories here but... it sounds like the Elder's got something else going on," Ghost remarked.

"When doesn't he have something else going on?" Haylen huffed in return- surprising herself with the bitterness in her own voice. "He's got his head so far up his ass about the rumors with the Institute, he's practically combing his own fingers through the dirt to find them. I understand that everyone wants a piece of the Institute, that we've all seen the damages that they've done, and we're aware of what they can do. And part of me wants to give Maxson the benefit of the doubt; part of me wants to believe that he wants to put the Institute down because of their atrocities... But I also believe that he's just in it for the technology, that he's just in it to prove to everyone why anything other than human is wrong."

It was always said that anger made a person honest and there was plenty of anger and honesty in Haylen's words.

And yet at the same time she felt the hard kick of guilt in her stomach when the words came out.

Just a day out of the Brotherhood and here she was badmouthing it already.

What kind of Scribe did that make her out to be?

Let alone what kind of person.

"I came from the Wasteland, from D.C.," Haylen started again, knowing that Ghost already knew that much about her. "I traveled here with Recon Squad Gladius. There were seven of us together and I traveled day and night with those men. I patched them up after every gunfight with every Raider, with every Gunner who tried to cut us off. After some of the things I've gone through they were the closest thing to family that I had."

She took another sip of coffee, hoping that it would bring some warmth to her chilling words.

"Knight Brach was the first. He stepped on a landmine out by Corvega and died three minutes after the explosion; there was nothing I could do," Haylen recited. "After him was Knight Worwick, who was injured from the same fight with those Raiders; they filled him full of bullets that I had to cut out. I managed to keep him alive for two days, keeping him together with stimpaks, while stringing myself along with a mess of no sleep, intense fear, and a sense of hate that I couldn't save Brach."

Her head still rang from time to time when she thought about the landmine going off- still able to hear the shrieking explosion of it only a few yards ahead of her.

Her fingertips still ached and throbbed when she thought about the bullets, when she thought about the hollowed numbers that spilled from her lips- counting each and every bullet that clanged when she dropped it onto the metal tray next to her.

"... Turns out I couldn't save Worwick either," she sighed. "Danse ordered for peace so I gave it to him in the form of a cocktail. Worwick died within thirty seconds but... I don't think it was quick enough." A pause, a loose recounted prayer; a desperate attempt to wipe that horrified memory from the back of her eyelids. "Knight-Sargeant Dawes came after; he died almost immediately- he was dead before I even knew what had happened to him. Knight Keane was the last and he was torn apart right in front of me. I spent days trying to wash the blood out of my clothes, trying to wash the dirt out from underneath my nails after I buried him."

Sometimes when Haylen closed her eyes she could still see them.

She could still hear them.

She could still recall the stories they would recite during their travels or around the fire after they had made camp for the night. Worwick used to call Danse a hard-ass but the man seemed to enjoy getting the Paladin to laugh from time to time when he could; it was hard to do and Danse very rarely gave the man the satisfaction of doing so. But every now and again Worwick won the battle.

Maybe not the war but a battle now and again was enough to keep the man satisfied.

Cambridge had felt so empty without them there- enough so that Haylen wanted to embrace the idea of another unit moving in, of more people around to fill in the space. But even when the new unit did come in, when people filled the rooms and courtyard once more, it didn't change anything.

There were still cold spots all over the station, each spot a reminder of how no one else could fill that place.

There was spot by the front counter where Brach had once lit a cigarette inside- complaining about the heavy rain outside and ignoring Danse telling him to put the cigarette out. The two argued, Brach pretended to go outside, and then he proceeded to flip Danse off at the doorway.

Worwick just about fell out of his chair from laughing so hard.

There was another one by the computer in the back room, where Keane had hovered over her, watching her trying to crack through the security system- and then clapping a hand on her shoulder when she finally did.

... No amount of people could make that place feel warm again.

And Haylen couldn't help but to wonder how Danse and Rhys were taking it.

Or if they even cared about it.

They were both too stubborn, too close-hearted to admit when something got to them. Even after the back-to-back again deaths they had witnessed up till now, neither of them showed any outward expression about it. Not in front of her anyways. But Haylen would be a hypocrite to say that she didn't either; things were always easiest to deal with when behind a closed door.

"There were seven of us when we started... and now after my departure there's only two of them left."

"I'm sorry, Haylen."

The words almost hurt.

Only because she knew that Ghost was genuine when she said them.

"Yeah," Haylen whispered with a brief nod, "you and me both."

It was quiet for a little while afterwards and Haylen couldn't blame the silence for it.

Letting go of that weight felt good.

It felt healthy, it felt refreshing- it felt like something that Haylen should've done a long time ago.

And she didn't need someone else to comment on it. Her past wasn't up for discussion and this exercise wasn't about dissecting it either. It was about talking, about letting go, about letting the words take flight. She didn't need validation on what actions were right or what actions were wrong.

This was just about her.

But it also meant that there was a lot more baggage that was out in the open now; a lot of baggage hanging between them. It was always considered to be a bad omen to open too much at one time to one person; to bring so much pain and negativity to someone else's doorstep. And yet Haylen didn't feel as though it was a burden to do so. She now knew of things that she wasn't certain that she wanted to know- but part of her was glad to know them regardless.

"Everyone out here wants to destroy the Institute and I can't blame them for that- I've seen the aftermaths," Ghost started, holding her cup with the fingers of one hand, while the other was propped behind her. "But... all I want out of this mess is just one chance to talk."

After hearing countless war talks, countless horror stories based around rumors, such a simple request sounded mad.

"To talk?" Haylen repeated. "All you want to do is talk with the Institute?"

"It sounds crazy, I know, especially given everything I'm working with right now," Ghost continued. "I don't care to know what the Institute knows or what their excuses for doing these atrocities are. I just want to know the important things. I just want to know why I had to be a part of their scheme, why did they have to drag me into this? Why did they have to kill Eli over an infant?" Ghost stammered with the name but recollected and continued. "I want to know what happened to my son. I think... I think that that's the least they could do for me and it's the easiest answer they can give. Whether or not they want to is a different story but that's okay too- because I'm pretty good at making people talk."

Everyone was gunning for the Institute, looking for a vulnerable spot, looking for a throat that could be torn out.

And maybe everyone here deserved a chance to do so.

The Commonwealth more than the Brotherhood.

But Ghost more than the Commonwealth maybe.

She was still fresh, still new to this world; she wasn't the first victim of the Institute. But her story, the way she was involved, the way she was entangled in this mess was something completely unheard of. Ghost had a special right; she had a first-class ticket with the Institute.

"Well if there's anyone here who could actually make it to the Institute and make them talk, I'd put my caps on it being you," Haylen replied, catching the brief smile that toyed on the corners of the woman's lips.

Sniper.

Infiltrator.

Overall hard-ass.

Ghost was the kind of woman who could get things done when she wanted them done- either by bullet or by hand, maybe by words if one was lucky. Barely four months into this new world and Ghost was already molding it to her hand, molding it to her will. It wouldn't be long before the Institute caught wind of her, before the Institute got curious- maybe even a little afraid. She would either be considered a person of interest or a threat, and sometimes the two ran hand-in-hand.

Haylen lifted her cup and offered it in a mock toast to the woman. "Ad Victorium, sister Ghost."

Ghost snorted in response and shot her an exasperated grin before she moved to connect her cup to the rim of Haylen's- and pushed back on it in a returned toast.

"Ad Nauseum more like it, sister Haylen."

Haylen laughed in return before she jerked her cup back to prevent Ghost from spilling the contents of it onto her.

After the conversations they had just shared it felt good to hear Ghost laugh again; it felt good to wipe the desolate look off of her face- even if it was for just a short while. It was more than enough to satisfy her, and more than enough to let the tension break soft and gently between them. It let everything out to the ocean, giving them some peace with themselves and with each other.

"Is it weird?" Haylen started, purposely leaving her question half-assed to begin with. Despite everything that had just been passed between them, she was still in the mood to talk, she was still in the mood to learn more. And honestly she just didn't want their conversations to end with what had just been said. She would much prefer something on a lighter note.

But right now she was leaving the option open for Ghost to decide if things were worth continuing.

And judging by Ghost's reaction, the woman's curiosity had been peaked enough to press for an elaboration. "Is what weird?"

"You used to be an infiltrator, right?" Haylen asked, watching as Ghost nodded as she spoke. "So you were always the person behind the curtain pulling all the strings; you never really had your name out in the open. So it is weird now that everyone here knows who you are and what you're doing? I mean, everyone seems to know every detail about what happened to you, about the vault you came from. Everyone knows what you did and what you've done- what you used to do. You used to stand in the back and now you're up here in front. Is it weird to be standing on the other foot now?"

"The military controlled every little detail about me that was released to the public," Ghost started. "At first I was just an American sniper who laid siege to the enemy, who helped my fellow soldiers get to safety and claim victory. A few of them even made public statements about me, saying that I was like a guardian angel over their shoulders- an angel with a steady hand and perfect sight down the barrel. A little too dramatic if you ask me. Once I started getting into the dirty business though, that's when the real twisting began. I was an infiltrator; I sabotaged enemy ambushes by decoding their messages ahead of time. I stole important information regarding coordinates and troop movements, allowing my men to avoid hot spots and catastrophic casualties. I went from being a solider to a would-be celebrity, so you could say that I was sort of always in the spotlight- just not how I should've been."

The woman paused to take a sip of coffee.

And Haylen found herself shamelessly hanging on to every word the woman was saying.

"But what the American public didn't know was that I was a sniper and an assassin," Ghost continued. "I specialized in political assassinations when necessary. Sometimes the newspapers would run articles about yet another amazing feat I had pulled off and have them printed right next to the shocking death of a political opponent to the US. And no one seemed to figure out that both events had been caused by the same person." She paused again and seemed to be gathering her thoughts. "Luka was a war hero who deserved an early retirement and a happy family. Ghost was what happened when war bred with politics; she is disgusting and vile but she does what she has to do to get things done. She gets her hands dirty so no one else has to. And... for once, it feels like she's finally getting the credit she deserves."

Ghost referred to herself by two names- a projected balance of dual personalities.

She let one hide behind the other.

One in front, garnering the attention.

It didn't sound healthy but if it was a way of coping in this world for the time being than so be it.

It was far from being destructive and judging by Ghost's words and by the way she was handling herself now, this wasn't the first time she had split herself in two.

This wasn't the first time she had let Ghost take lead while Luka was gone.

Ghost wasn't stupid; she knew what she was doing and she knew how to handle it.

Haylen watched as the woman sat up and topped off her cup from the boiling pot, more than likely to warm it up, before offering to do the same to Haylen's; and Haylen gladly accepted. True to Ghost's warning earlier, the coffee wasn't all that great but again it was better than nothing. The real comfort of it came from the heat, from the aroma, from the fact that at least there was still coffee in the world.

"Feeling any better?" Ghost asked, taking a sip of her coffee before she pushed her cup into the sand nearby- allowing it to stand while she laid down onto her back, arms tucked underneath her head. It was hard to ignore just how thoroughly relaxed the woman seemed to be- enough so that there was a resting smile on the curve of her lips as she settled in.

It made Haylen wish she could do the same but she wasn't going to risk getting sand anywhere else in her clothing, let alone in her hair.

"Surprisingly," Haylen nodded. "I hate to say it Ghost, but you might have a point about this whole island thing."

Ghost laughed a little and raised one fist in the air in what might've been a victory celebration.

 _Typical_.

Haylen let the woman have whatever victory it was that she thought she deserved.

It felt like the mood was set now, now having calmed down from the much-needed tension it had started off with. Things overall just felt better and lighter now that she didn't have the weight on her. But the weight would come back soon enough and Haylen had to admit that she wasn't quite finished with Ghost just yet.

"Let me ask you something else then since we're both being completely transparent here," Haylen started once more, watching as Ghost nodded for her to go on; the woman didn't so much as move from her relaxed position. And given whatever Ghost's reaction would be to her question, Haylen would almost feel sorry for ruining the atmosphere. "Why did you kiss me back at the airport?"

For just a brief flash of a second, Haylen could've sworn she saw fear on Ghost's face.

Not fear in the general sense of the word, but the woman certainly hadn't been expecting the question.

(And in truth, neither had Haylen.)

Or perhaps Ghost just didn't want to answer it.

"Oh Haylen, I don't think you want to open the Pandora's box on that one," Ghost started, a brisk, somewhat nervous laugh in her voice when she answered. "I think you've learned enough about me today- enough to hold you over for a good while anyways."

"Quite the contrary, I don't think I've learned enough- not yet anyways," Haylen insisted, before she reminded the woman, "it's just a question."

Ghost groaned in response. "It's not just a question," she insisted just the same as she brought her hands to cover her face. Her hands stayed just long enough for Ghost to take a deep breath behind them before she dropped them back down to her sides. "You saved my life and then you got royally screwed over for it. And up until this point, I don't know, I liked hanging out with you; it was a nice little breather, a nice break from everything else, and everyone else that I was dealing with. You made the Brotherhood kind of tolerable for me and you were sort of the only reason I stuck around. I enjoyed our late night coffee talks while everyone else was sleeping; it sort of felt like we were in a world of our own for a little while. So really, I mean, why wouldn't I kiss you?"

A rather open-hearted response.

Something Haylen wasn't entirely expecting; she was expecting something more along the lines of cheeky and sarcastic.

Still, it didn't defuse the quiet snort that left her in response as Haylen took another, warmer, sip of coffee.

"That is the weakest answer I have ever heard."

Ghost gave a mock gasp.

"Ruthless," she retorted in jest before she recovered with a quick grin. "You ask that question a lot?"

"Only when people kiss and run."

"Oh- I did _not_ run," Ghost corrected as she pushed herself up now. "I mean, I kind of did, yeah, but not for the reason you might think."

"You're right," Haylen nodded in mock agreement. "Run was a little exaggerated to use. I mean you probably couldn't run at all with that leg."

Ghost laughed this time, easily taken in by Haylen's cruel joke. But it didn't take long before the laugh died out and Ghost continued- a little more somber this time. "Look, Haylen, while I am all for letting things play out on their own, I just don't think this situation is going to be good for either of us- not now at least. You deserve someone who's more than just some weeping widow hellbent on finding her son and dragging a cargo-load of emotional baggage with her."

"That's pretty gutsy telling me what I do and don't deserve," Haylen replied. "But I guess in the same scheme of things, you also deserve someone who's more than just a washed-out Scribe with nothing ahead of her and too much behind her."

"Whoa, whoa, don't use my logic against me," Ghost spoke in mock defense. "... Although if we're being completely transparent here, you do have a fine ass."

Haylen snorted again in response.

And Ghost laughed once more.

"What is with me and field medics, huh?" Ghost seemed to ask aloud as she laid back down, this time on her right side, facing Haylen. "There must be something about you people that just draws me in. I'm like a fish caught in the current."

Haylen could feel Ghost's eyes on her and looked back to do the same, studying the woman while she was still. There was a subtle turn on the corners of the woman's lips, giving her the smallest look of contentment- a partial smile if Ghost were to push it just a fraction more. Haylen felt the smallest skip in her chest as she lingered on Ghost overall, taking the woman in in full.

There was a second skip as she let her eyes pull focus to Ghost's lips instead.

"Let me ask this then, Haylen, are you saying that you wanted me to kiss you earlier?"

"I just asked why you did," she answered. "It was unexpected and needless to say, even after saving your life earlier, it came out of the left field for me. I just wanted to know what you saw in that moment."

Ghost pushed her lips up until her upper lip touched her nose in an almost comical look of thinking. "I saw the woman who practically saved my life sitting behind bars like she was some kind of criminal, as though saving my life justified a life sentence. Now I'll be real here, Haylen, I don't like letting the good things go or letting a moment escape- I think spending my life looking own a scope made me like that. If I think there's the promise of something good out there than I want to go for it. And... I saw that moment in you, in the airport, and I didn't want to let it go."

Haylen offered a brief smile and broke gaze long enough to take another drink, using it as an excuse to calm the quiver in her throat.

"Now _that_ is an answer," she replied.

Ghost grinned. "I'm glad I was finally able to appease you," she teased. "In all seriousness, I've been living in this hellscape for four months now I think and it's pretty lonely no matter how you look at it. Mind you, this is coming from someone who was routinely stuck in an underground bunker for two months with only myself as company. I have people around me, sure, but it's not exactly the same. But then I met you at Cambridge and you looked lonely too. And the way I figured it, at the very least we could be two lonely people sharing coffee and blood packs. And now look at us, we've upgraded to two lonely people sharing coffee and a fire."

Haylen laughed at the woman's continued heartfelt monologue

"We are," Haylen nodded, "but... not so lonely now I think."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that."

Haylen felt the conversation ease off into silence once more and let herself focus more on listening to the things around her rather than listening to herself talk. The sun was breaking over the horizon at this point, spilling red and orange across the water as the waves crashed in on the nearby shoreline. The cool morning breeze blew in with a hint of salt and for now Haylen was enjoying it; of course later on when she would be cursing this moment as she struggled to wash the salt out of her hair.

For now though, she was content.

And it was the best feeling she had had in a long time now.

The muffled sound of something crackling close by broke the moment though and Haylen watched as Ghost fumbled around for her bag nearby- eventually having to sit up in order to reach it. The woman shuffled through the packed contents inside before she yanked free her buzzing radio.

"This is the Castle calling for the General, do you respond?"

"I got you loud and clear," Ghost spoke as she held the radio close to her. "We got a problem?"

"Not exactly ma'am, Sergeant Ronnie was just asking where you were at is all," the man on the other end spoke, sounding nervous enough with the words. "I told her I would put a call out and see if you responded."

Ghost chuckled lightly and covered the radio with her hand as she turned to Haylen. "In other words, Ronnie threatened to throw him off the castle wall," she spoke before she went back to the radio. "I'm out on a walk right now but I'm still in distance of the Castle if something happens. Let her know I'll be back soon enough- but until then, Preston's in charge and if she's got questions or orders to give than she can talk to him about them."

"Yes ma'am."

Haylen watched as Ghost tossed her radio aside before she laid back down. "Do you need to head back?" she asked.

"Nah, they can function without me well enough," Ghost assured. "Ronnie just likes to do roll call and if I'm not there to answer than she goes looking for me. She just wants to make sure I didn't ditch and run is all. Don't worry, she does actually trust me but I think past betrayals have left her a little too bitter to admit to it- which is no fault of hers. It's just that I like some peace and solitude from time to time and I'm not going to change that."

"And if there's a real emergency?" Haylen questioned.

"I can see the Castle from here and I can swim to it, they won't be without me for long," Ghost replied before she patted the blanket space next to her. "Now come, lie down with me. The air is cool and it's been a long morning already."

Haylen chuckled at the offer. "I'd much rather not get sand in my hair."

"Then lie thy head upon my breast," Ghost offered, gesturing to her chest with one hand before she moved it down to her stomach, "or upon my belly."

There was a laugh this time as Haylen figured the woman was joking before she decided to give Ghost the benefit of the doubt. "Alright," Haylen replied as she pushed her cup into the sand just the same before she moved to lie perpendicular to Ghost. Lying down on her back, Haylen carefully let her head rest on Ghost's stomach- smelling the scent of fresh salt water lingering still on her skin. "You're not planning on moving any time soon are you?"

"Nope," Ghost replied. "Why? Making yourself comfortable?"

"Thinking about it."


End file.
